Chapter 442: Tank and Cinder level up

Joshua led the group away from the battlefield and towards the shade of a large tree that was up on a hill in the nearby area. Originally there was a decent sized group of elk at the place, but after the big fight happening nearby they had left the area so that they wouldn't end up getting themselves involved in the scuffle. The higher vantage point allowed the group to keep an eye on anything that would be going on around them without having to worry about getting ambushed by a snake from the tall grass. They still had to keep an eye out on the sky above them, but for the most part they were safe.

The one thing Joshua was keeping an eye on at the moment was the vulture sitting on the hill that had been carefully watching their group for the past twenty minutes or so. The giant bird had seen their group tear its two partners apart rather quickly and was cautious of them as it kept turning its head from looking at them and looking at the dead coyote bodies that Joshua had left behind. It knew that if it left those bodies there for too long then other predators would have no problem racing in for the free food.

Eventually the vulture made up its mind and decided to come gliding down and picked up one of the coyotes with its large claws and carried it back over to the hill that it had been resting on before. It started snacking on the dead body while keeping an eye on Joshua's group the entire time. It left the other coyote body their so that any other predators in the area would go after it instead of the one that it had already taken away. That ended up being a wise move as a couple of bobcats came out of the tall grass and started picking away at the body and tearing it apart. Although the bobcats wouldn't have been able to chase the vulture if it went up into the sky their extreme speed could have easily allowed them to get the jump on the overgrown bird if given an opportunity.

Joshua and the rest of the group made sure to keep an eye on the predators eating their meals along with the snake that was probably still waiting in the tall grass based off of the occasional plume of feathers that would shoot up into the air as it was trying to swallow its meal whole at the moment. Joshua knew that it took a while for snakes to eat and digest their food so it was probably more worried about getting attacked then trying to attack any of the other beast that were around the area at the moment.

For the time being Joshua put thoughts of the previous battle to the back of his mind as he reveled in the fact that he had gained more strength in such a short span of time. They hadn't even fought in all that many fights yet he had already gained a level on the expedition. Since he had past level eighty it was taking more and more experience to gain levels, but they had finally found a location where they could train as a group and push the upper echelon of the alliance to new heights. Eventually they might bring other members of the alliance to this area to train, but at the moment no one else was ready to take on challenges like this area. It would end up just being a bit to challenging.

There were several members in the group that had gained levels already during the expedition, especially when it came to the lower level members in the group. Everyone in Vince's mercenary group had already gained a level and were well on their way to their second level gain at this point. Joshua could see why the beast gave so much more experience than in other areas since every creature they had fought seemed to have at least one or two special abilities that could turn the tide of battle if they weren't careful.

They were lucky in the last battle the vultures basically came down one at a time instead of coming all at once while attacking from the start. Even the snake could have been a big problem if it had decided to go after Titus or Cinder when it went in for the ambush instead of the vulture. Even now Joshua wasn't quite sure what the special ability of the snake was. He only knew that it was poisonous and much faster in its movements than the ones they had fought against in the canyon. It might have been a bit smaller, but it was far more adapt at ambushing its targets than the ones in the canyon.

With all that said the biggest thing they had gained from the fight with the vultures was the leveling of both Tank and Cinder. Titus had already reached level eighty so he wasn't feeling any sort of suppression from the beast that they had been facing up to this point, but Lilly's other two star beast companions had to shrug it off the entire time they were fighting. The moment they were allowed to rest from the fight after leveling up Joshua could already visibly see the changes taking place for the two beast.

Neither of them were going through an evolution of any sorts since they hadn't reached the threshold for that like Cinder had when she reached level fifty, but they were both growing in size at a rate that was clearly visible to the human eye. Cinder was now easily over five and a half stories tall in her full form and was getting a bit bulkier in the leg department giving her more power with her attacks. She still had the same explosive speed if not even more so do to the extra strength in her legs, but now Joshua got the feeling if she was given the opportunity she would be able to leap in to the air and drag one of those vultures down with her added weight if she could latch on to its wings.

Tanks change was even more noticeable. The giant turtle's shell now could reach up to seven stories high at its highest point making it as tall as Titus, but Tank had a much larger body. The turtles shell continued to get stronger and thicker making it more difficult for other beast to try to break through it while his aura seemed to grow even denser as he leveled up. It was clear that more and more of Tank's former size and power was returning to him as he leveled up and he was definitely going to be the best tank the group could ask for against some of the beast they would come across in the prairie. Joshua doubted that even the giant owl that he had seen during their first night in the prairie would be able to lift Tank up with all his bulk.

The improvements to Lilly's beast companions would go a long ways to strengthening their group's survivability as they marched further into the prairie. From what Joshua could see in the previous fight outside of Cinder, the rest of her main group of beast companions had trouble dealing with flying enemies. That wasn't all that surprising considering Tank is a massive slow moving turtle that would have no business trying to go after flying enemies unless it was from a distance with his bubbles or water torrents. Titus on the other hand had trouble doing much more than defending the group throughout that entire fight because in a wide open space like the prairie he didn't have anything to jump off of in an attempt to get up in the air.

Having Cinder around was the only reason that the group was able to handle the vultures so well. The beast in the prairie seemed extremely intelligent so they couldn't count on them fighting head on like with most other beast that they had come across up to this point. The lead vulture stayed back and just peppered them with feathers the entire time, if its poisonous fog could reach them from so high up Joshua was certain that it would have attacked them with it as well.

While Joshua was thinking about these things while everyone was resting after the battle he heard a deep rumbling voice come from off to the side. "It seems that I'll be able to regain a lot more of my strength while we fight through this prairie. Fighting beast on this scale regularly will only awaken my former potential." Tank explained as he sat underneath the sun shrunken down in size so that he wouldn't draw the attention of every other creature in the area. Titus and Cinder had both shrunk down as well, but the moment any sign of danger came up Joshua was certain that all of Lilly's beast companions would be ready to fight.

"How much stronger do you think you've gotten after leveling up?" Joshua asked with curiosity. He knew that Tank had an even better control of aura than himself so the giant turtle would be able to sense his own gains in strength much more clearly.

"Outside growing in size and power I can also feel that my control over water is getting better. If needed I could concentrate enough water in the air to change the weather for a brief amount of time. Maybe even create some rain in an open place like this, but there would have to be enough moisture in the air naturally for me to do so." Tank explained.

"So no rain clouds in the middle of a desert…got it big guy." Adrian said with a smirk while only getting a loud rumble in return from Tank. The rest of the group chuckled a bit at their antics, but they were all happy to see that Lilly's beast companions had gotten stronger. After a short rest the entire group seemed more than ready to get a move on once again before the previous commotion of the fight along with the smell of blood from the battlefield could attract anymore predators that were lurking around the area.

As they all got on the move once more Joshua could only look in the direction of the large vulture that was currently ripping out pieces of meat from the dead coyote. The large bird continued to glare directly back at Joshua which was giving him a bad feeling. Over the time he had spent as an explorer Joshua had learned to trust in his instincts so he knew that overgrown living garbage disposal would have it out for them.