91st of Ashan 719, ~07:00
Unbelievable. The appetite of the Scalv Ziemia was unlike anything they'd ever seen before, but then again, so was their growth. It had only been ten trials since they'd all hatched, the five of them. When they emerged from their eggs, they were a mere five or six feet long. Now though, on their tenth trials alive, they stretched between twenty and twenty-five feet long and had eaten quite a lot of the twenty-ton Sakarum Fridgar had brought them.
Their rapid growth, as Ganren had said, demanded a lot of nutrients and protein to maintain. Surely, if they didn't have absolute constant access to plentiful food, they would starve and perish in merely a trial or two at their pace.
Of course, Varthakh couldn't see their voracious appetite at work while they wore their blindfold, but they could feel them, hear them while they stood at the edge of the colosseum-like arena. They hissed and shrieked at one another while their bodies tumbled over one another in an eerie and uncomfortable serpent-like fashion, and they ripped away chunks of the colossal carcass at a time. Varthakh frowned at the sight, despite being unable to see all the details.
"It won't be enough," they told themselves, to which they affirmed; "it won't." A low chuckle echoed from behind them, something of a cackle from what they would have thought to be a warped beast of the plains, but instead of a roar or a snarl, Ganren's voice followed. "I did tell you they weren't worth the hassle," said The Jackal who walked to stand at the massive Ithecal's side. Varthakh nodded in response, though they didn't necessarily agree that it wasn't worth the effort, just difficult.
"The worst thing; I would assume that half of them won't make it to adulthood. The runt and the next smallest, maybe even the one after that." Varthakh furrowed the ridge of their brow then and looked to the Jackal with concern. "What do you mean?" They asked. Why were half of them doomed to die? ganren scratched his beard and exhaled, "well, the strongest two will out-eat the others, they'll grow larger and end up needing more food. The runts will starve."
Distraught, Fridgar covered their muzzle and leaned against the overseeing railing. If anything went wrong with their experiment and the subject died, they wouldn't have many chances to try again. "Damn it all," they said with a low growl and hung their head over the railing. Ganren looked to them and smirked briefly. "Hey, it's not all doom and gloom," he said, to which Varthakh shifted their blind gaze in his direction, "we've just received word that an Albion has been spotted attacking the eastern territories, all that extra meat might save one or two of them," he said.
Of course, Ganren's silver lining carried work for them to complete. They didn't mind though, they were a Jeger, after all, sworn to serve them in their past life. "If I remember right, you and your kindal fought one shortly after you joined our ranks?" Varthakh nodded, Fridgar had done so, though Alistair had done most of the work. "Great, then it should be a cakewalk for you. You'll complete a job for me and feed your experiments to boot. Win-win, yeah?" With that, he pet the giant lizard on the arm and began to walk off. "Head on over to Mac Adonnaigh right away, they're expecting you," came his final instruction, and Varthakh nodded.
Once the Jakal was gone, Varthakh sighed and hung themselves limp over the railing. "An Albion?" they asked themselves. "Aye... great big pain the arse," they replied. They sorted through Fridgar's memories and found the image of the great flying beast that rained death upon the ground below. "Yikes... It's not as big as the Sakarum, though," they said after they'd studied the memory. "Heights is not the problems," they said in reply, "it flys and shoots spikes." They nodded in agreement. The Albion would be significantly trickier to hunt and kill than the Sakarum.
They couldn't even get close to it without being pelted by spikes made of bones that were stronger than Zirconium. "We'll have to get it to land before we fight it," they spoke their idea, and the rest of them seemed to agree with pleasant hisses and affirming nods. "Easier said than done though," they added, then groaned and growled at themselves. No, fighting the Albion wouldn't be easy or quick. No doubt, they would need to Chrysalis again afterward too. With a heavy sigh, they lifted themselves from the railing and excused themselves from their hatchling boulder snakes and went to prepare for the journey to the east.
Unbelievable. The appetite of the Scalv Ziemia was unlike anything they'd ever seen before, but then again, so was their growth. It had only been ten trials since they'd all hatched, the five of them. When they emerged from their eggs, they were a mere five or six feet long. Now though, on their tenth trials alive, they stretched between twenty and twenty-five feet long and had eaten quite a lot of the twenty-ton Sakarum Fridgar had brought them.
Their rapid growth, as Ganren had said, demanded a lot of nutrients and protein to maintain. Surely, if they didn't have absolute constant access to plentiful food, they would starve and perish in merely a trial or two at their pace.
Of course, Varthakh couldn't see their voracious appetite at work while they wore their blindfold, but they could feel them, hear them while they stood at the edge of the colosseum-like arena. They hissed and shrieked at one another while their bodies tumbled over one another in an eerie and uncomfortable serpent-like fashion, and they ripped away chunks of the colossal carcass at a time. Varthakh frowned at the sight, despite being unable to see all the details.
"It won't be enough," they told themselves, to which they affirmed; "it won't." A low chuckle echoed from behind them, something of a cackle from what they would have thought to be a warped beast of the plains, but instead of a roar or a snarl, Ganren's voice followed. "I did tell you they weren't worth the hassle," said The Jackal who walked to stand at the massive Ithecal's side. Varthakh nodded in response, though they didn't necessarily agree that it wasn't worth the effort, just difficult.
"The worst thing; I would assume that half of them won't make it to adulthood. The runt and the next smallest, maybe even the one after that." Varthakh furrowed the ridge of their brow then and looked to the Jackal with concern. "What do you mean?" They asked. Why were half of them doomed to die? ganren scratched his beard and exhaled, "well, the strongest two will out-eat the others, they'll grow larger and end up needing more food. The runts will starve."
Distraught, Fridgar covered their muzzle and leaned against the overseeing railing. If anything went wrong with their experiment and the subject died, they wouldn't have many chances to try again. "Damn it all," they said with a low growl and hung their head over the railing. Ganren looked to them and smirked briefly. "Hey, it's not all doom and gloom," he said, to which Varthakh shifted their blind gaze in his direction, "we've just received word that an Albion has been spotted attacking the eastern territories, all that extra meat might save one or two of them," he said.
Of course, Ganren's silver lining carried work for them to complete. They didn't mind though, they were a Jeger, after all, sworn to serve them in their past life. "If I remember right, you and your kindal fought one shortly after you joined our ranks?" Varthakh nodded, Fridgar had done so, though Alistair had done most of the work. "Great, then it should be a cakewalk for you. You'll complete a job for me and feed your experiments to boot. Win-win, yeah?" With that, he pet the giant lizard on the arm and began to walk off. "Head on over to Mac Adonnaigh right away, they're expecting you," came his final instruction, and Varthakh nodded.
Once the Jakal was gone, Varthakh sighed and hung themselves limp over the railing. "An Albion?" they asked themselves. "Aye... great big pain the arse," they replied. They sorted through Fridgar's memories and found the image of the great flying beast that rained death upon the ground below. "Yikes... It's not as big as the Sakarum, though," they said after they'd studied the memory. "Heights is not the problems," they said in reply, "it flys and shoots spikes." They nodded in agreement. The Albion would be significantly trickier to hunt and kill than the Sakarum.
They couldn't even get close to it without being pelted by spikes made of bones that were stronger than Zirconium. "We'll have to get it to land before we fight it," they spoke their idea, and the rest of them seemed to agree with pleasant hisses and affirming nods. "Easier said than done though," they added, then groaned and growled at themselves. No, fighting the Albion wouldn't be easy or quick. No doubt, they would need to Chrysalis again afterward too. With a heavy sigh, they lifted themselves from the railing and excused themselves from their hatchling boulder snakes and went to prepare for the journey to the east.
