Leaving his quarters, Cillas made his way to the training grounds of his militia. The air was strong with the smell of exertion, and the clamor of sparring. Unsurprisingly, it was much more subdued than normal, since fully half of the militia were doing personal experiments with mana. As Cillas passed, many men paused briefly to salute their lord, quickly returning to their duties. "Commanders, Report!" Cillas said tersely to his military leaders. "Sir, most of the scouting teams have returned, and news is grim indeed. Three men died, and several more were seriously injured and will not be able to continue active duty. The Plains are significantly more dangerous than we expected, and there are two confirmed hostile creatures. The first is a creature which appears the same as the grasses, and always in medium to large groups, where they then use their length to whip at anything which walks through the area, causing some kind of unnatural bleeding which is extremely difficult to staunch. The head medica has some theory, but I'll leave that to his explanation later." "Unfortunately, this creature is significantly less dangerous than the second. A beast appearing like some kind of burrowing fox with unbelievably sharp claws.It's fur is a close match for the plains grasses, and they seem to prey upon the grass creature, as one team found a fox carrying one of the grass creature's corpse. The bad news about the foxes, however, is their howl. They have some kind of debilitating effect when they howl which makes concentration extremely difficult, whereupon they attack their weakened prey. This is where two of the three deaths came from, and most of the more severe injuries. The only saving grace is that they seem to be quite solitary, with the largest group spotted being three, two adults and their young." "Lastly, One of the scouting groups has yet to return, which ordinarily would be cause for concern, but their lead is Kapricus." "He'd be seeking something that truly stands out, then. Hopefully his greed for glory doesn't get the five of them killed. I'd like a group of nine to accompany me into the fields; I wish to see these beasts for myself." "Milord, it is to dangerous! None would malign your bravery, you are simply too important to the city!" "Nonsense Gillard; If the Lord has not the courage to test his mettle, then how can he possibly lead his men? I'll be taking your caution closely to my heart, and will return after a brief time." Clearly still somewhat reluctant, Gillard nonetheless saluted and left to gather the men who would be going with their lord. A few short minutes passed as the lord donned his armor while waiting. Nine stalwart men filed into the command tent, presenting themselves as members of the mission. "So you're to come with me then, Gillard" asked Cillas. "Indeed, Milord, I've to ensure your safety myself." Gillard responded. The group set out quickly, and as they passed through the gates of the city, there were already a number of citizens clearing the grasses from near the gate, working outwards in an oval shape to offer clear sight lines for the wall. As the group was about to pass the leading edge of these clearers, there was a shout of panic. Lord Cillas Looked to his right and saw a large blade of grass had cut a mans hand off as he had attempted to scythe the area. Quick to act, he drew his sword - a modest one handed long sword with the bare minimum of decor- and carefully swiped at the grass-beast, interrupting its attempt to finish off his citizen. Forced to avoid, it swayed out of the way of his sword like a leaf might dance with the wind. Shouts of alarm spread quickly and many stepped back from the edge of the uncleared grass, wary of more enemies. Several of Cillas' group gathered to his left and right, where they quickly realized that the grass facing their lord was only the closest of a group of eight, which had begun to thrash and whip at them, forcing a defensive position. Several tense moments rushed into the past as a stalemate began, both sides unable to do much damage to the other. Cillas spent this time carefully observing the enemy in front of him, quickly realizing that, like most plants, it was rooted in place. A strong thrust, a feinted opening, and a quick swipe was all it took to sever the grass at the root. It went unnoticed at the time, but Cillas' mana increased just a smidge more than it otherwise would. "They are still rooted in place, sever their base!" With the discovery of their weakness, the fight was over in moments, the only injury to show for it being the initial hand lost to the surprise attack, along with the scythe it had been holding, split in half. Careful not to drop his guard, Cillas stepped forward to observe the newest threat to his people. "It's damn lucky this happened now and not any earlier. I want a dozen men stationed here in groups of four to protect those who are clearing the grass. What a damned oversight; Of course they would be nearby the city, we were dropped right in the middle of the plains, so obviously we haven't beat back the wildlife to claim our territory." Gillard Cursed, sending a runner and halting the clearing efforts officially until the militia could arrive. It was then that Cillas stood, Holding the grass-beast carefully, as it was still quite sharp above the waist level. "We're lucky, there are a few major indicators that this is a grass-beast and not normal grass; Firstly, it's visibly top heavy, thicker and larger at near the point than would be possible for the regular grasses. Near the roots, the color changes to the red of blood, likely some kind of stomach. Less useful for spotting them, the root system isn't roots at all, It's as if someone just stabbed a conical spearhead a few feet into the ground. These will be a good boon to create basic weapons for the citizenry in the dangerous new world. I'm sure it will have more uses than just this, so I'd like a few of our herbalists to examine them." "Of course, Milord!" Gillard relayed a few orders, and the group once more set out into the plains, albeit much more cautiously than before.