He took a deep breath, and said to her, "For this quest, you are really risking your life."
"Of course. That's why I'm asking you for help," she said while watching the pterodactyl nest with her binoculars.
Meanwhile, while watching one of the pterodactyls flying close to their hiding place, he muttered, "They are too big to be hunted using normal methods..."
She turned to him, and said, "You don't need to hunt them down. Just help me so I can enter their nest."
"How?" he asked suspiciously with his eyebrows furrowed.
"We need to observe them first. Find out their habits and the best time to sneak into their nest," she answered.
He looked at her with disdain, "If that's all, why don't you just do it yourself."
She snorted and put her binoculars into her Inventory. "I told you, I don't have the skills to fight."
"You mean, you'll use me as your shield if something happens?" He started to get annoyed.
"Yeah. It's true, and your skills are only for fighting. Different with me."
"This skill is only active when I have prey, Maya," he said with gritting his teeth.
"Then let's do it your way. Hunt them." she hissed.
He was getting on his nerves, "Once you said you do the hunt, now you are saying I do the hunt. Which do you prefer?"
She shrugged, "It's up to you. Either way, you must use your skill."
"That's it! I quit!" He stood up and was about to walk away.
"Waittt!" She held his sleeve.
"Okay, listen," she said, "There is a vault inside that nest. And inside it, there are many treasures. You can take it all."
He flicked his sleeve with annoyance, and said, "I don't need that. I just don't want to die. Besides, the treasures would be too heavy to carry."
"Please?" She begged with teary eyes, "I promise to help you with all your quests, didn't I."
"Hhhh… Alright, alright," he sighed.
***
They carefully approached the barren hills, making sure not to draw the attention of the pterodactyls flying overhead.
After finding a safe spot to hide, they started observing the pterodactyls from a distance. They took shelter in a small cave, where the pterodactyls couldn't reach them.
While sitting by the campfire, they prepared their equipment and planned their strategies for infiltrating the pterodactyl nest.
For the next few days, they observed the pterodactyls closely. They tracked their flight patterns, noting when they left to hunt and when they came back to the nest.
It became clear that the pterodactyls followed a fairly predictable routine, they left in the morning to search for food and returned to the nest at dusk.
"We need to enter their nest while they're out hunting," Maya said as she reviewed the notes. "That's the best time, when the nest is completely empty."
Ash nodded in agreement. "Okay, we will move tomorrow morning. We have to get ready now."
But that afternoon something happened and made him really regret his decision to follow her to the nest.
Several people using three jeeps approached the nest. The animals started screeching, flying, and swooping down, trying to grab the jeep and the people in them.
However, those pterodactyls were greeted by machine gun fire mounted on each jeep.
The injured pterodactyls returned to their nest. Meanwhile, the rest floated in the air, not daring to approach the jeep.
These people came down carrying their respective weapons, swords, or spears. They confidently started jumping out from the jeep.
But suddenly, two other pterodactyls, much larger, appeared out of the nest. The length of their wings reaches ten to twenty meters. They started swooping down to grab the jeeps.
The machine guns fired relentlessly, but they couldn't harm the giant pterodactyls. Their skin was tougher than that of the younger ones.
The large pterodactyls flew at high speed, snatching up jeeps and smashing them apart with their powerful beaks. At the same time, the smaller pterodactyls began attacking the people.
The smaller ones dived down, pecking viciously at everyone. A few pterodactyls were wounded by swords or spears, but there were far too many of them.
In the end, everyone was dead. The destroyed jeeps lay scattered across the dry valley, surrounded by silence.
Then those creatures took the dead humans into their nest, for their meals.
***
They watched all of this from a distance, didn't expect to see two giant pterodactyls as they never saw those two giants leave the nest during their observation.
However, they decided to carry out their plan the next day.
***
The nest was located inside a large cave at the top of a barren hill.
They entered the cave quietly, trying not to make any noise that might attract the attention of any pterodactyls that might still be nearby, or the giant ones inside the cave.
Inside, they found many large, greenish pterodactyl eggs. Both were amazed by the size of the eggs.
But they couldn't waste time. They needed to move quickly.
She called her system map and started examining the markings on the cave walls.
"My sense map says there's a secret vault in this cave with valuables," she whispered to him.
He nodded and followed her. They walked through the dark cave passages, using torches to light their way.
After a few minutes of walking, they found a large stone door with strange carvings on its surface.
"This is the door," said Maya while examining the carvings. "We need to find the hidden mechanism to open it."
They examined the carvings carefully. They touched and moved parts of the carvings, figuring out how to open the door. After a while, she found a small button hidden in one corner of the carving.
"Press that button," she said to him, pointing to the button, while pressing another one.
He pressed the button, and the stone door slowly opened.
The door made a screeching sound as it opened. They both held their breath.
"We have to move quickly," he said while guarding the room entrance. "Those giants could notice us at any time."
She ran into the room quickly and grabbed the item she was looking for.
After a few minutes, they heard loud footsteps and screeching inside the nest. Those giant pterodactyls must have heard the door.
"We have to leave now," she said in a panicked voice.
He nodded, and they both ran out of the secret room. They quickly walked back through the cave passages, trying to get out before the pterodactyls noticed them.
As they almost reached the exit of the cave, they saw a group of pterodactyls landing in the nest. They hid behind a large rock, hoping the creatures wouldn't see them.
After a while, the pterodactyls entered the cave, and they took this opportunity to sneak out of the cave quickly, then ran down the barren hill as fast as they could.
"We did it," he said breathlessly as they stopped at the edge of the tropical rainforest.
She chuckled with panting breath. "Yes, we did it."
"What did we steal from that place?" she asked curiously. He had risked his life to help her, so he wanted to know.
Then she took out a silver box from her Inventory and opened it. Inside it there was a round, dark blue crystal about five inches in diameter. In the middle of the crystal ball was a white circle that looked like an eye.
She took out the crystal, and after reading her system notification screen, she showed it to him.
He observed the crystal in her hand and asked, "What is this?"
She answered with a grin, "It's the Eye of The Strom. It is very valuable and powerful."
"Powerful?" He squinted his eyes. "What kind of powerful are you talking about?"
"This item can change the weather at the holder's will." She turned the white circle and suddenly, the bright daylight turned dark and cloudy.
The white circle's color shifted to grayish-black, and soon, strong winds and thunder began to roar over the barren land.
Strangely, the tropical forest's sky remained clear and unaffected by the storm.
Ash's mouth was open with astonishment.
"Is it a Rare rank item?" he asked.
"Yeap. It's cool, isn't it?"
"Absolute cool," Ash nodded approvingly, then turned to her. "Are you not going to turn it off?"
Maya chuckled and said, "No. It's better for us if that place is having a thunderous storm right now. So those big angry birds won't come out soon."
"LMAO. Let's get out of here and find someplace to rest, shall we?" he started to walk away from the edge of the tropical rainforest.
"W-Wait," she hurriedly placed the Eye of The Storm back into her Inventory and caught up with him.
She strolled cheerfully alongside him and asked, "What are we having for dinner tonight?"