Chapter 169: Big oaf

The frost penguin struck dead center on Su's shield, she was pushed back leaving skid marks in the snow. The penguin brought to a firm stop, "haaaaaa!" putting all her strength in to it Su pushed back raising her shield more. The penguin was not expecting such a counter and flipped on to its back. Two arrows sprouted from its exposed belly right before Remey came down with another brutal hammer fist. Midnight swooped in landing a devastating bite to its neck finishing the second frost penguin. The penguin had not expected Su to be so prepared to counter it after being pushed back so much.

After using her strength in her block and sudden counter Su had fallen to one knee catching her breath. To be safe Walker used a light heal spell not wanting Su to have any small injuries. She had demonstrated why she was the sole defender of the party. She refused to be outdone by the others, they all had improved their skills and so did she.

"Su that was amazing! That penguin rushed in like swoooooshhhh then slammed your shield down and it smacked in to it like a wall. I thought it was going to hurt you when it pushed you back but then you were like haa and it flipped over. You were so cool, I didn't know you could do that!" Elise had been captivated by Su and her fancy shield work, to Elise Su was an unbreakable wall. The overwhelming show of defensive prowess really spoke to her, the strength that radiated around her was inspirational.

In turn the others praised Su as well, Su on the other hand who was not used to such copious compliments turned vibrant red. Shrinking away behind her shield they got to witness the rare sight of an embarrassed Su, a turtle shrinking away behind its shell.

While the others fawned over Su, Walker was about to store away the second frost penguin body when he found himself wondering what in the world it could be used for. Utilizing his ever trusty all around appraisal skill he checked up on the frost penguin body.

' Frost penguin body

The body of a frost penguin is often held in high esteem for chefs. The highly concentrated fat within its meat makes it incredibly tender. The light bones are used to create flavorful stocks for soups. The sharp beak is too brittle for use in crafting and is often just used for display purposes. The feathers are sought after for jewelry and pillows due to the oils produced by the penguins, they deter water.'

This was a pleasant surprise, Walker had expected more utility in crafting but instead it was a better food item. Thinking that his mother would rather enjoy this as a fun ingredient to cook with he stored it away with the intention of giving it as a gift. The feathers would most likely go to Lisa who could best utilize them in some form of clothing or blanket. Happy with his discovery Walker made a thorough check of the area to make sure they didn't leave anything behind. Finding the area was all clear he pushed everyone to continue on, there was one more quest waiting for them to complete, they couldn't stop until the snow golem had been dealt with.

With some encouragement Walker was able to get everyone on the move again, the protesting from Riley who wanted to take a break to eat again was one of his rare moments of speech. Yet Laurence was always prepared for it and was able to get him back on track with a little tough love from a senior.

The tall grass became more sparse opening up to a flatter more snow covered area, the wind seemed slightly stronger as well which would explain why the grass wasn't able to stand tall above the snow. The stronger winds caused Elise to give up on participating in the next battle, Stella would have too much trouble staying on course. It was not worth the risk of additional injury.

Riley would need to sit out as well, the fact that his demon boars were wild was a constant risk. Walker often found himself wondering why Riley was grouped up at all, but seeing that Laurence was the more experienced member leading to lesser experienced members the theory was that Riley needed guidance on how to operate before he went out solo. Of course Riley was not opposed to sitting out again since he could be lazy and relax.

Laurence had made it clear that he would only participate if needed in the last fight, this time he wanted the same, however, he did mention that Hyde would be out of the beast ring to watch. This would be valuable learning for Hyde who would almost always be smaller than his opponents. Dealing with larger opponents often had their ups and downs, they were an easier target for long range attacks but they also hit much harder in close range. Since Hyde could fire flaming quills at a distance Laurence had hope he would see the value in keeping distance as a ranged attacker, Laurence wouldn't always be able to hold him after all.

The expanse of snow was almost blinding to their eyes but the group pushed forward, the snow golem had recently been sighted near here and should be easy to hear or see when they got close. Knowing this Walker began to focus on his hearing, a snow golem was a large enemy and would definitely make a bit too much noise lumbering around. He soon began to pick up a very quiet thumping in the distance. "Walker, there's something way out there moving, I can't pin it down it's like a shift in the snow." Gil's sharp eyes were the reason Walker had opted to focus on hearing, whatever Walker didn't hear Gil would see. They were the perfect pair of sight and sound.

"I can hear a sound of heavy footsteps in that direction as well. I would bet that it's the snow golem, it's made of snow after all so it makes sense it would blend in from a distance. Let's see if we can get it to come to us." Walker removed some of the dry grass he and Su had gathered from their daily quest the previous day. Knowing his fire doll skill would need fuel he wanted to have something on hand. Easily starting a small fire Walker willed the fire doll to take the shape of a cat yet again, he wanted a speedy form to be able to dodge any attacks from the golem. The others who were witnessing this spell for the first time had their eyes glued to the fire as it took shape. Seeing Walker feeding it grass to build up its fire they were even more enthralled, "Alright now kitty cat, head over there and lure that big oaf here then when your close jump at it head on to distract it for us." With its order the cat pulled some more dried grass in to it and rushed off. Noticing that everyone but Su was fixed on him Walker couldn't help but tease a bit, " It's just my new fire doll skill, it's nothing much." with a wink to Su, she joined in.

"What leader is saying is right, it's not all that grand. You all look like you've just witnessed a miracle. Let's focus now we have an enemy heading our way." Su and Walker shared a mischievous grin as they prepared to hunt the snow golem.

The sounds of large steps making their way closer caused the rest of the party to snap in to attention. The once small looking difference in snow was approaching. Now that it was closer the shape had been defined, The snow golem was about seven feet tall and thicker than a large tree. Its hands and arms were rudimentary without joints or defined features, but something told them that it could still grasp and crush them. Each step slightly shook the ground easily demonstrating the sheer amount of snow compressed to create its body. The goal would be to separate the golem's body from its core which would break its flow of water mana. Once this was accomplished it would be unable to maintain a shape and break apart. The challenge lay in chipping away at the compressed snow that made up its body to actually get at the core, using Walkers fire bolt they should stand a chance of whittling away at it.

"Gil, keep your distance and try to push it off balance. Su deflect its attacks only if you need to, no head on defense it will hit too hard. Midnight and Remey, you two are on hit and run tactics. We need to get as much of its body broken apart as possible, once we see the core we will go all in on separating it. Onyx stick with me, you can't use ranged attacks so it's too risky right now." The plan was set out and the snow golem was near.