House of Amarin

While Koa's group was getting ready for their ambush and eliminating their first victims, Lia and Raufon stumbled into a weird situation. Quite literally.

"Now what…?" Raufon asked, looking upwards, getting to his feet as the two groups fell into a deep pit a moment ago. The ground suddenly gave away under their feet, and they felt like heavy hands pulled them down into the black abyss.

"Good question." Lia groaned, sitting up, feeling squashed as the others managed to land on her. Snapping her fingers, she summoned a small, orange flame just so it could explode like a firework. "Kyah?!" She yelped, as it almost burned her eyebrows off.

"What now?!" Raufon flinched, scared from the sudden cry. It was absolutely dark down there and looking up, it was as if they had fallen at least a hundred meters down.

"My spell backfired…." She whispered, surprised, and as the rest of her men tried to summon their flames, they all resulted in pops and explosions one after another.

"Stop, you are going to blow us up!" One of Raufon's man screamed after his swirly, bushy hair caught on fire, hurriedly put out by his comrade.

"Deja vu… at least it wasn't me this time…" Raufon murmured, shaking himself. "I hate dark places!"

“Claustrophobic, are we?” Lia giggled, but Raufon just continued whining.

"And if I am?! Fuck!" He slapped the wall next to him, trying to summon platforms from the earth, but it simply shot out, hitting him in the face. "Ugh!" He held his nose, which was almost broken by the impact. "What…?"

"Something is disturbing the mana in the air," Keily spoke up, his nose constantly twitching in the dark. "Now I know why I felt weird!"

"Yeah… the air is… weird!" Some other beast folk agreed from Raufon's side.

"Well, we can rely on your noses, at least!" Actiz joked before somehow receiving a perfect slap on the back of his head from his older brother. "Hey!" He protested, headbutting his brother, Alzen.

"Don't bring shame on our family, idiot!" Eliott grumbled.

"But he is right." Keily said, siding with them, "I can smell a draft… it… brings the smell of, well… fresh earth with it? Like… like how a field smells after a spring rain shower!"

"How poetic." Shishi giggled as everyone could only see the beast folks' glowing eyes.

"He is right." Raufon and the other sniffed, "I feel it too."

"I told you…." Actiz grumbled.

"Keily, you first!" Lia clapped, and the boy raised his hand, but he stopped before casting a spell that would not work anyway.

"Keily?" The rest asked when nothing happened for a few seconds.

"I got an idea." He said, tapping on his bracelet, and soon, a bit of eye-hurting, intense white light came from his bracelet without any problem. "I was right! Even if our magic is being interfered with, our bracelets do work! They are part of the System, made by the Headmaster, no? Whatever the eggs are, they are his creations!"

"Hah!" Raufon laughed, slapping the back of Keily, making him groan, "Smart! I didn't know it could do that!"

"Me neither." Keily grinned proudly, "I just tried thinking of it, and it… lit up!" A moment later, everyone was using it as a flashlight, looking around where they ended up.

"Oh." Lia squinted, letting her eyes get used to the artificial light. To their surprise, they were surrounded by half a dozen tunnels leading in different directions. "From which can you feel the smell coming?" She asked; it was the same to her nose no matter how she concentrated on picking up the suggested smell.

"This way!" Keily went ahead, used to the role of scout, leading them forward.

They had to advance in a line, sometimes go to all fours or slide down, then climb upward for another ten minutes, getting increasingly dirty and exhausted by every meter they 'walked.'

"What kind of tunnels are these anyway?" Shishi groaned, being in the middle of the pack.

"Has to be man- or magic-made," Raufon added, playing the role of the rear guard. "No animal or natural events leave such smooth surface behind while digging!"

"I see something!" Keily shouted, being the foremost person. "It is an opening!"

Picking up the pace, following his voice and light, they finally managed to climb out into a much greater cavern and could see a brown egg floating in place. It looked as if it was thinking about where to go before moving, smashing against the dirt wall and starting to form another tunnel slowly but surely.

"I think we found our answer." Eliott laughed, "It seems the eggs are truly special this time!"

"It is giving out the feeling of the element of the earth!" Raufon walked closer to it, but no matter how hard he tried to influence it, he couldn't do it. Same with any of his subordinates, no matter how proficient they might have thought they were.

"Cool!" Lia hopped forward, giggling when they heard the System announce that Thunderclap got the egg from their friends.

"Did they?" Keily asked, quickly looking at their map with an anxious gaze.

"I don't think so," Lia answered nonchalantly, not even looking at them, just walking close to the one they found. "Don't worry about them! They can take care of it! We have to get this for ourselves, and then we are going to have two!"

"This is… a bit fast." Eliott explained, watching his leader, "All the previous Hunts went on for a week. Usually, the first egg was found on the second day only! We barely are an hour in, and we have two?"

"Well, we ARE lucky!" Lia flashed a V-sign with her hands. "I bet you my monthly profit from Alchemy Haven that this egg is the one that causes our spells to go haywire! The tunnels it leaves behind, I'm sure, also have the same property! The moment I touch it, the system will also announce it! So… get ready!" Just as she was about to do it, they heard the System speak up again.

"Group Thunderclap has been eliminated."

"See?" Lia looked at everyone, "I told ya~" Then she grabbed the egg and screamed as if she was zapped by electricity. "Hyaaaaaah???!!!" She shivered while the System, once again, sent out the message of another egg being obtained.

"What?!" Raufon, Keily, and the rest asked worriedly, not knowing what to do or how to help her.

"It feels icky and yucky and stinky! Uuuuuuu, take it, take it, take iiiiiit!" She moaned, screamed, and jumped around, constantly grimacing, trying not to drop it. "I feel like holding a big pile of poo! Here!" She impatiently pushed it into Raufon's hands, "You hold it!" Waved her hands that were dripping with brownish, muddy earth.

"Eh…" Raufon flinched as it was warm to the touch and truly… squishy. "This is disgusting…" he agreed directly.

"An Egg has been obtained by the Misfits of Earth."

"Can't this thing be turned off?" Shishi complained, trying to find the option for it on her bracelet.

"I don't think so." Keily calmed down after realizing it was simply Lia overreacting, saying, "I already tried." He added, showing them the map. "Koa's group is coming towards us."

"Yes, but we are underground!" Raufon reminded them, holding the egg like he was holding an overspilling bag of manure.

"Push it against the wall!" Lia suggested, and when he complied, the earth was being absorbed by it, letting them tunnel forward with ease. "Hah! You first! And make it so we don't need to crawl and can walk up to the surface!"

"Damn…" Raufon grumbled, going forward, and it was surprisingly effortless on his part. He just had to push the egg, and it was consuming everything in a flash. "Now I feel like I am transforming into a mole…. Or a dung beetle."

…
….
……

"We are in the right position." Aurora wrote, checking their map, and they were precisely where Lia should be. Yet looking around, there were only trees, trees, and more trees.

"Maybe they are invisible?" Sion joked.

"Or their egg also has some quirk to it!" Koa joined in, dropping theirs, waving her frozen hands back to life. "Making them exist in a different reality or something!"

"Maybe…" Aurora looked at them and then felt that the earth was moving below their legs. "Move!" She signed with her hands as they quickly dispersed, fearing an ambush.

Watching, they saw a hole open up, and Raufon stuck his head up like a mole, noticing them instantly.

"Yo!" He shouted, throwing the egg forward, and when it landed, the ground below it slowly started to sink. "Fuck!" He hurriedly climbed to the surface, scrambling forward and picking it up again, "This damned egg can't be put down, or it would burrow itself back again! Damn, this is going to be annoying!"

"We just need to come up with a solution! Stop moaning!" Lia climbed after him, and the rest of the dirty, muddy Misfits appeared, finally grouped up wholly with the rest.

"Ours start soaking everything if it is put down." Koa showed them, 'introducing' their treasure. "But if you hold, it starts freezing your skin off!"

"Ours stink when being held, and it feels like… shit." Lia grimaced, "First thing first!" She shook her head, and everyone's bracelet pinged, signaling the request for an alliance. As soon as the leaders accepted, everyone could see the other's position revealed on their map, alongside their miniature icons and basic information.

"Really? Let me see!" Koa chuckled, taking it from Raufon, but the smile quickly disappeared from her face, "Ugh! This is… disgusting!" She retched involuntarily, returning it in a hurry, feeling her fingers being soiled.

"Huh… it is truly cold!" Lia tilted her head, holding the other egg in turn, letting it slowly freeze the blood flow in her hands before dropping it, unable to hold it any longer.

"Did you notice?" Sion said, watching the two, "The System did not announce the change of ownership."

"It must be because of the alliance," Aurora explained, watching her bracelet, "and we also should move. The eggs are constantly on display; we must be ready for ambushes!"

"Not if we use them!" Lia said with a sly smile. "It is evident we have an advantage with these toys! They can manipulate their elements without us doing anything! We are going to use the Earth Egg to tunnel underground and move around undetected! At least for a while! We can carry the Water Egg in rotation until we find more of them! I want to find a river to see if yours have some special skill like ours!"

"More?" Sion asked, "I think two is already a good chance to put us in 3rd place."

"I want to make sure!" Lia argued. "Here!" She pointed at the map, where the forest looked the densest. "This is the darkest place in the forest! Even when the sun is out, it should be as if it is still nighttime!"

"You think an egg should be there?" Aurora asked, catching on quickly.

"I am sure now that every element has one. This is my best guess! If we are lucky, we will find the Shadow Egg! Or whichever! Also, I am not stupid…." She closed down the map, nodding towards Raufon so they could start tunneling once again. "I know that Olivia is here to make us forfeit this hunt! I'm unsure how strong she is, but I want us to reserve our strength for now! If we must fight, let us do it on our terms! We are going to dictate where, when, and how! I won't let some vindictive girl try to boss us around because she is on her period all year!" She snorted, fire dancing in her eyes, "I may be weaker than her right now, but I can still make her whine!"

…
….
……

"Is this rigged?" Palvina asked, watching their map when the system announced that another egg was obtained by the Misfits.

"Shouldn't be…." Olivia answered, finding it weird too. Was the Headmaster's hand in this? Or was it because they were from a House? Were they being played favorites because of their background? "Must be…" She bit her lip, feeling even more anger towards them after her thoughts reached their conclusion.

"They are on the move again." Palvina's voice dragged Olivia back to reality, watching her map. "Heh… they are heading towards us! If we keep up our pace, we will meet them by sunset!"

"We will wait," Olivia said, her voice ordering the others simply by her tone alone. "They found two eggs and defeated two groups. That is a long day, and they ought to want to rest. We will wait past midnight and ambush them! They have the numbers advantage, so we are going to trim it down a little!"

...
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......

High up in the air, Lucian was enjoying the show and was just spectating a battle between two groups that resulted in a draw, in some injuries, but nobody was ejected from the Hunt. Without an Egg as a prize, most groups were not too keen on going at it. Yet.

"Well, well, well..." He mused, seeing the Misfits walking underground, unbothered and advancing quickly. "I may put another egg before them, ahaha~ Which one should it be?" He asked himself, sweeping the big cloud behind him with his white fox tail. "Let's mix it up! They are going to find the one with the element of darkness, and let me spice it up!" He tapped on the screen before him, spawning a black egg right where the Misfits were heading and a burning, red one straight in the way of Olivia.