"Can you keep going?" Blue asked.

"I'm not sure. Those things are starting to hurt," Hera was covered in wounds and cuts.

The griffons weren't able to deal any significant damage to the humans, but the dozens of monsters were finally overwhelming them. A storm of talons and beaks targeted every part of their bodies. Hera did her best to heal the wounds, but it quickly became clear that she didn't have enough mana to heal all the cuts. Gusts of winds tried to hinder their movement, and the more griffons were around, the stronger the wind got. At the moment, Hera felt like she was near a tornado. The wind was so strong that they were having trouble moving around.

"This might be bad, but get ready to run," Hera looked back to the group of griffons. Taking advantage of the wind, she sent out a grease fire spell focusing on its spread. Five of the monsters were instantly covered in flames. The gust pushed the fire farther away, managing to hinder their ability to control the wind.

Hera and Blue took the opportunity and ran as fast as they could towards the tunnel. At first, Hera got a lead, but Blue's electric buff recharged enough to make her faster. They fought the griffons for about twenty minutes and gathered over 15kg of chicken meat and five bundles of feathers. Each monster dropped more meat than a sheep and died quicker, and each battle had more enemies than the last. From the two that Hera and Blue killed, they went to fight three, then four, then the last five, clearing out all the flying monsters. However, a second wave came from the mountain with more griffons than the first. This was the problem they were facing. Since the two were too far away from the tunnel, the rejected spawns had a clear line of sight to their new prey, completely ignoring the sheep that still roamed the dungeon.

The first wave only gave them a few cuts and bruises, but the 30 or so griffons of the second wave came all at once, swarming the humans and increasing their wounds by tenfold. They couldn't last much longer, but luckily the tunnel was already getting closer.

"Keep going, Blue!" Hera shouted. Another blast of wind flew by, missing the two runners and slamming against the mountain. The impact shook the tunnel, dislodging some rocks. These spells wouldn't be rapid-fired. It took all the griffons to prepare an attack strong enough to create this sort of result, but they could get seriously injured if it hit someone.

Blue arrived at the tunnel just as when a second wind spell hit the side of the mountain. A large rock was dislodged and fell into her path, making her trip. Hera pushed further, almost reaching the tunnel when another spell came from behind. She jumped forward, rolling inside the cave and using her flaming poison rain, aiming at the entrance. The entire tunnel became clogged with the burning orange rain, but it moved sideways instead of up and down.

"C'mon, that won't keep them away forever," Hera helped Blue up.

"Ow, ow, ow. Wait!" Blue cried while limping.

"Don't tell me you broke your foot again."

"I didn't. I just twisted my ankle."

Hera put Blue's arm around her shoulder to help her move, "This whole damsel in distress thing really doesn't suit you."

"How is that my fault?" Blue gasped.

"You really need to look to where you are going," Hera chuckled, taking a quick glance back. The flaming poison rain ended up creating an amazing roadblock. Any griffon that tried to come inside the tunnel would be hit with the spell. The attack would take some time to kill them, but igniting the creatures made them flail around, blocking the path.

Hera and Blue kept moving until they reached the broken doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are leaving the dungeon.

The quest was not completed.

You cannot reenter the dungeon for 5 hours

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, we are done for today anyway," Hera sighed as they emerged from the entrance.

Bairen rushed towards them. He was waiting by the entrance, "What took you so long? And what happened with you two? Did… did the Sky Ruler's Spawn did that to you?"

"Yeah, we got what? 15? But when the second group came all at once, we couldn't beat them," Blue explained.

"You defeated the Sky Ruler's Spawn?" King Rutigan asked. He was waiting for the humans ever since he arrived. Bairen could try to hide Hera and Blue's location from Naka, but there was nothing he could do when the king asked about their whereabouts.

"We did. We got some meat from them too, but is Lerynn around? We could use some healing," Hera said. They could be safe, but there were still several cut all over their bodies. Not to mention that their armor was in dire need of repairs.

"Of course, of course. Where is Lerynn?" Rutigan turned around, looking for the healer.

"Lerynn, come here quick!" Bairen yelled.

The healer quickly rushed over, and as soon as he saw the state the two were in, he started panicking. Their entire body was covered in blood, and by the looks of it, they coughed it up. However, as he treated Blue, who seemed to be in a worse shape, he realized that they weren't that bad. There were no internal wounds, and nothing was broken. Blue's ankle was the most worrisome injury, but at the same it, it just required some healing and rest.

"You need to explain to me how your armor got this bloodied. It is yours?" Lerynn asked Hera.

Hera looked down, only now noticing the dried-up blood that covered most of her armor. The way it spread was very deceiving. It was like someone put blood in a spray bottle then aimed it at her, making most of her purple armor have small red droplets.

"It is mine, but it's not as bad as it seems. The griffons use wind magic, and I think the blood from our cuts ended up spreading that much. And all this only happened in the last 5 minutes. There were like 30 of them coming at us all at once. At least we managed not to be grabbed by them and keep the drops," Hera was looking around, inspecting the damage on her armor.

"You… you managed to even gather the drops?" Rutigan asked.

"Ouch! Careful," Blue gasped as Lerynn cleaned one of the cuts in her face, "Sorry. Yeah, we only had one basket, so we had to pick the meat or the feathers. We picked the meat. It's chicken!"

"What is.. chicken?" Bairen asked.

Hera looked around and saw a few of the guards preparing some food by a grill, "It's a type of meat. We are used to eating meat like the ones we get from sheep, meat from birds and other animals with wings, and meat from animals who live in the water. We call them fish."

"We are aware of creatures that live underwater. Generations ago, one could find those animals in the lake, but for some reason, they have vanished," Rutigan nodded.

"Right, so this is chicken meat," Hera picked one of the pink packages and opened it, revealing the chicken breast inside it. She got up and walked over to the grill, "Mind if I use this?"

"Sure, go ahead," the guard replied, but Ogryn stopped Hera. He inspected the chicken, and only after confirming that it really was edible, he allowed her to proceed.

Hera used some water to clean her hands, and Lerynn helped by using a cleaning spell, "It's similar to prepare, but unlike sheep meat, it can be rare or medium-rare. If you don't cook it properly, you can get sick."

Hera was about to place the chicken on the grill when Blue yelled, "Hera, wait! Cross-contamination."

"Don't worry. As long as the grill is hot enough, any bacteria will die, but that is something we have to be wary of," Hera turned back to the dwarves, "Chicken can make people sick if not stored and prepared correctly, and it must be kept away from other meat. If we store them together, people can get sick. I say that because that's how it's like back home. I have no idea if that will be an issue here as well."

Hera cut the 2kg piece of chicken into small slices and placed them on the grill after using some spices they had on hand.

"Can I finish healing you now?" Lerynn scoffed.

"Oh, sure. Sorry."

Lerynn continued healing her wounds now that Blue already had some immediate care. A group of guards left the dungeon, but no one went to help them with the baskets. Everyone was focused on the new smell that came from the grill.

"How long does it take?" Rutigan asked.

"For pieces this size, I think it's about the same to make a well-done steak."

"My king, I'm sorry, but that's not the most pressing matter. How did you fight the Sky Ruler's Spawn?" Bairen asked.

Hera and Blue talked about how the fight went. How the monsters were much weaker than they expected, and just the two could kill all the creatures. Or at least all the griffons from the first wave. They told them about the levels they saw and the types of attacks that the monsters had, and their behaviors. Hera also mentioned how the way they fought against the sheep reminded her of Naka's strategy.

"It does look like what she taught us. Maybe the Sky Ruler's Spawn are more intelligent than we think. Also, what is a griffon?" Bairen seemed to be having some trouble focusing on their discussion. The smell was too distracting for him.

"Oh, right. We have stories about creatures like the Sky Ruler, but to us, they are called griffons. They are mostly connected to royalty and honor and not just terrorizing a city, but I guess that could vary from species to species," Hera cut one of the pieces of chicken to check if it was done, "It's ready, everyone. There is a piece for each of you."

Hera had cut the 2kg into several bite-size pieces so it would be enough for all the guards, including the ones who had yet to return from the dungeon. But she left two larger pieces, one for the king and one for Bairen, as a thanks for the help. She put the chicken on a large plate and passed around. It didn't take long for someone to take the stone slab out of her hands. Her first instinct was to stop them, but the dwarves excelled in sharing, so there wasn't much to worry about. There was a small plate with three pieces that Hera picked up and took to Blue and Silah. The two were talking about the griffons and how the fight went while Silah inspected Blue's armor.

"Hey, I got us a piece. And I'm gonna try to keep the wing at least," Hera looked at the basket.

"Thanks. Try this, Silah, you're gonna love it," Blue picked her chicken bite and passed the plate to the dwarf.

"The smell is amazing. Let's see how it tastes," Silah ate the chicken, closing her eyes while chewing, "This is… incredible. It almost melts in my mouth. How can it be so good?"

"Maybe it's the secret ingredient," Blue said.

"What secret ingredient?" Silah was confused. She didn't see Hera putting anything different in the grill, aside from the chicken.

"Love," Blue smiled.

Silah's face instantly became red. She sneaked a glance at Hera, who was too focused on one of the feathers to notice.

"Hey, check this out," Hera noticed Silah's expression, "Is everything ok? Are you having a bad reaction to it?"

"No, no," Silah cleared her throat and looked at Blue before turning back to Hera, "I'm fine. What do you want to show us?"

"This, inspect this feather."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rejected Sky Ruler's Spawn's Feather

A feather from the Sky Ruler's children that were unable to receive its blessings. It is imbued with wind magic to help with movement and the use of wind spells.

If the feather is tossed up while inside the Wooly Plains dungeon, it will trigger the Rejected Sky Ruler's Spawn's descent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Blue said.

"I think so. We can call the griffons without having to wait around for an hour," Hera replied.

"How many of those do you still have?"

"About five, all have the same description. Maybe there is another type that's special."

"And maybe this has something to do with the hard mode. Didn't they say that no one ever figured out how to trigger it?" Blue said.

"That's right. We only know about the hard mode because of the voice of the mountain, but no one ever found a way to activate it," Silah confirmed.

"My friends. I must say that this is quite a delicacy," Rutigan approached the group, "May I ask you to prepare this for the council? I understand that we have a limited quantity of this... chicken, but I wish to discuss some possibilities with the other council members, especially with Naka and Ogryn."

"You're going to tell Naka about this?" Blue asked.

"But of course. You have proven it is possible to kill the Sky Ruler's Spawn. We must discuss this new development."

Hera and Blue stared at each other. They were sure that the captain would scold them for going alone into the dungeon. It didn't matter the results. Then again, if they could get permission to keep doing the dungeon like this, it would be much better to level up instead of sharing the experience with several people at once.