--- Kat ---
The others didn't notice but as they rode along Kamiko was stewing on that titbit of information Hunter had dropped on them. For all that she trusted the two, she was now concerned about how she'd been dragged along. Not for herself of course, no that was very much not the problem.
Her recruiting had implied that she wouldn't be in danger, that Hunter was a professional who had done stuff like this before, and that Kat could regenerate so it wasn't worth worrying about them too much. That she would be fine if she stayed out of the way... but never any true reassurance that Kat and Hunter would ACTUALLY be fine. Just reasons that they should be, or reasons for her not to worry.
Well, Kamiko could safely say that she was very worried now and that worry didn't diminish in the slightest as the road through another village. They'd actually been through two today, but didn't bother stopping at either. They had time before the sun set and those tents were very nice.
Kamiko had considered stopping so that her horse could have some better accommodations... but the stables she'd noticed along the main road hadn't exactly been clean so far and horses survived in the wild fine. So resting at their camp wasn't really a hardship for him.
Of course, with no need to worry about her horse she went back to worrying about Kat and Hunter. So much so that as soon as the decision was made to rest for the night she blurted out, "SoI'mworriednowandIwanttoknowhowtofightthedrake" which wasn't understandable in the slightest.
"Kamiko, if you wish to convey information swiftly you need to force the translation. Simply speaking quickly distorts the information and makes picking out what you said difficult," stated Hunter.
Kamiko blushed and repeated what she'd said, properly this time, "So... um... I'm a bit worried now that I... um have had some time to think about it... and I want to know how to fight the drake... or um, maybe how I can help? Or... I guess like... how you plan to fight it? Ideally?"
Hunter looked around the clearing before nodding at Kamiko. "I have several plans but a lot of more general information you should know ahead of time. Would you like to discuss this now or after dinner has been made?"
"I can cook while you talk," added Kat.
Kamiko looked between the two and grimaced. "Um... I mean... if that's not too much trouble I guess. I... I can try and make stuff tomorrow? I'm not that good... but if you guys want?"
"Cooking isn't much trouble so if you're not confident I don't mind leaving you off the rotation... but if you want to learn I'm willing to help. Though I don't recognise all of the ingredients so I'll be avoiding most of them," explained Kat as she dropped a box out of her ring. She was going to make some lasagna. The ring had a large stock of noodles, and of course, she'd just taken out of oven.
"Ideally, it will simply have upgraded fire breath, something unlikely to do proper amounts of damage to demons, as well as a flight power and perhaps a magical strength increase. This is the supremely best case scenario and I doubt we would encounter something so weak.
"On the other end of things, would be if the demonically empowered ability is either 'growth' or 'adaption'. It is possible that the embryo nearly perished in the egg and so it adapted to keep itself alive through one of those two efforts. If so, its power could be adapting to things, or growing to overcome them.
"In either case, a protracted battle is the last thing we want. Sadly, it is likely the drake has a at least some level of regeneration so an easy kill is not something we can count on. Your first priority Kamiko, if you are to be within viewing distance of the fight at all, is to watch and note down if the drake is adapting to us, learning from us, or actively growing more powerful as we fight.
"If it is not, that's fine. We can take our time wearing it down by relying on Kat's endurance and my own large supply of ammunition combined with ability to hide. It should help us win a protracted fight should the beast not be adapting... but that is the difficult thing. I cannot truly tell you what to predict because an egg is a thing of potential.
We just have to hope that the drake didn't make use of most of it,"
"What are the chances of that?" asked Kamiko worriedly.
"Very low," stated Hunter.
"Well what is a reasonable thing to expect then?" asked Lily. "The worst case seems to be 'expecting basically everything' and the best case seems to be 'expect a standard dragon' so... where is the middle ground? What are we likely to see?"
"Ah yes, I was lost in the extremes it seems," stated Hunter with no change in expression. Kat and Lily were unsure if the slight pun in her words was translated or not. "Regeneration on its end is likely, though just as likely to be based on consuming more sustenance instead of seemingly endlessly like Kat. Fire breath or some kind is likely as well, though not necessarily heat.
When I aim for weak points, that is the time for Kat to strike. I likely cannot kill it with a shot to the brain or the heart, but both things WILL slow it down. If Kat can use those openings to try ripping off limbs, that would be optimal."
Hunter paused for a few moments to think of things. "Teleportation is not out of the question, or super speed of some kind. I imagine if the drake has had any issue at all with prey running away from it, it'll have developed something to speed up. That could be real teleportation, or shoving demonic power behind it and using explosions to catch up.
It will probably be a costly technique, but one that exists. I do not know how smart it will be. It is unlikely to be creative, but simple plans can be deadly if we are not ready for them. I shall thing on my previous hunts I can share. They may give you some insight to drawn on when planning in the moment,"