With things now mostly stable at Port Nefheim, Cain returned to Munan along with Misha, Cyrene, Paige, and Mary. Mary was excited to try out the new [Summon Duplication] passive that Cain gave to her, and there was no better place than the Demon Dungeon in Munan to try it out.
The extra bodies weren't really necessary with Cain around but merged back to their previous numbers; they were now doing a much better job of damaging the Demons. Mary had followed Kone's advice this run and Merged with Granite Golems Summoned with [Benevolent Leader] since they were the most durable known Epic Summon, and her own safety comes first after that near death incident.
The Beast Lord herself uses Lords of Decay because they boost mana regeneration, and all healing you do is increased when you merge with them. Still, Mary is more worried about being assassinated again than what her mana pool looks like.
The experiment is a resounding success. Mary has the confidence to take on this dungeon alone again, and Cain reaches level 260, giving him the Skill Points to activate [Greater Merger].
[Greater Merger] gain access to all skills known by merged Summons. Double the number of summons that can be merged with before every stage of diminishing returns.
That's going to be an incredible boost for Cain. The few skills he gets from his current mergers are nothing compared to obtaining every skill the Summon knows.
The secondary skills of a Summon are often the most useful. Especially when dealing with Epic and Legendary Summons. He will have to go through his entire list of known Summons later and look for ways to exploit skill interactions. With a little work and experimentation, Cain is confident that he can make himself even more overpowered.
Unfortunately for them, it's time for Paige to go home to the Royal Residence. Her continued absence has been noticed, and her mother's instability is still an issue, so the Elders want her where they can easily find the next in line to the throne.
The fact that it's the new Council Leader in Dryad form that comes to pick her up makes Paige smile. The Elder must have been more bothered than expected by the childish appearance, or maybe she doesn't want the little sister obsessed with Paige teasing her.
It's a bit quiet without her around, but Mary plans to move into Port Nefheim once she reaches level 300. There are both dinosaurs and dungeons in the area so that she won't be too bored, and it's close enough that Paige can come to visit directly from the private travel circle in her home.
Unlike everywhere else with an intercontinental capable circle, Port Nefheim doesn't charge a fee to arrivals. They want people to visit, set up shop, and help the Port City grow. Cain hopes that it's enough to help them be a primary choice of arrival destination for visitors to the continent, but Neffie thinks they need more attractions.
Adding a large sandy beach is suggested since the spot they found is among basalt cliffs and lacks any such amenity. There's good cliff diving, and the water is as warm as most people would bathe in, thanks to underwater geothermal vents, but without a beach, they're missing out.
Cain tells Lickity that it's OK to alter the shoreline at the edge of town furthest from the docks. That's up the current from the city so that any pollution won't bother the beach, and it's not near the shipping lanes, with the rocks that protect the beach separating the two.
With Lickity watching over Neffie, Cain is sure that nothing too strange will be done to the shoreline.
The following days are spent bouncing between Long Fang Valley for afternoon parties, Munan for the dungeons, and Port Nefheim to ensure everyone is settling in well. By the time the King goes into isolation with his Harem, as is the traditional way to attempt to secure his first heir, Cain is exhausted and looking forward to wandering through the jungle looking for Raptors just for the time to relax.
They will be going in teams on this mission. Kone with Larkin, Mythryll, and five of Cain's Companions. Neffie with King Aggramor, Cixelcid, five Companions, and Cain with Mary and Cyrene.
Misha has opted to sit this one out; she got a new recipe during yesterday's dungeons and planned to spend the day Tailoring with Lickity and Daisy.
Cain is sure she's just as exhausted as he is by the fast pace of life lately and doesn't blame her for wanting to relax. He suggested that Cyrene stay home and rest as well, but she's decided that it's just as easy to stay wrapped around him and give timely warnings about battle visions while keeping totems active.
Cid jokes that she's his private tutorial. Warnings that enemies are coming and their strengths, little buffs here and there, and notifications if he forgets something.
They asked the residents of the nearest few villages about the dinosaurs, and they've seen quite a few varieties, but primarily herbivores. The predators don't usually come near the shore since they can't swim.
That means they'll likely need to go further inland to find what they need, but Neffie is being much more reasonable than expected about her search.
Any form of rideable dinosaur is worth investigating in her mind. Raptors would be best, but something Armored might not be bad either; it would save on equipment. She definitely wants dinosaur Cavalry through.
Cain and Mary head southwest to search the region near a group of steep cliffs Cid saw from the air while scouting. The access is difficult, and for much of the journey you'll have to go by foot or miss everything due to the forest's canopy, but it seems like a good spot for a mount sized species to live.
The first few hours don't provide much in the way of dinosaur sightings, but just before Cain was going to call a break for lunch, the group picks up the bleating of animals in distress. That's a pretty good sign that they are close to their targets.
The ground isn't shaking, so it's likely not something huge, which would be a waste of time. You can't hit things with your sword from way up in the air.
They sneak through the trees until they reach the clearing where the noise is coming from. There is a form of Water Buffalo here, but Cain can't see any predator that might be causing the distress.
They wait in the grass near the tree line for a few more minutes before the cause of the commotion presents itself. Human hunters, not the dinosaurs they were looking for.
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