This time, the map appeared in his mind. The green mouse was still underground and would have to be driven out with his pebblequake power. Meantime, the family of four rabbits had split up, with the younger ones in the nest while the older ones, he presumed, were out finding food. This would make his task much easier. He’d zone in onto the mice first though. He sloshed through the ground and picked up pace as he neared his prey.

Then, when he saw the rat hole opening which was not too difficult to spot, the boy attempted to cast his minor earthquake magic to chase the rat out. He was successful. The ground quivered and then stopped. He was going to wait a few seconds for his offering to appear now.

This time, it took around 5 seconds before the mouse emerged onto the land. This one was disoriented as well and utterly drenched in the rain. Usui brought it down onto the earth with a heavy thump of his paw and bent down to severe its life. He then carried the rat gingerly in his teeth and went back to his pile of loots. The sacrifice pile seemed much more apt now, for it contained 5 mice, 1 rat, and 2 deer. Aquarian would be pleased. Usui wanted to go beyond the minimum though and so set out again, though he stopped on the way to lap up some water and quell his tired cub body.

The last mice was near the base of some trees as he saw it now. The cub squinted into the darkness of the roots and saw the tiny grey body. Immediately, he dashed in, aiming to retrieve it with one swift swipe of his paw, and then kill it. Every movement had become a strict conservation of energy now that Usui was running out of stamina at an extremely quick rate. He was successful! The mouse fell beneath his blow and died when he swooped in for the kill. Panting from the sudden exertion, Usui crept back to his pile and deposited it there. Then, he fell into a deep sleep unknowingly. He simply nodded off like that.

When he woke, a great many hours had passed. Usui got up with a jerk and panicked for a moment at first – hurridly turning around to check his sacrificial pile. Luckily they were undisturbed. The pup gave a sigh. He should not keep too much meat lying around for it may attract weird gembounds such as the raptors, though he wouldn’t be too sure if those critters wanted to be wandering around near Aquarian’s home. Still, he couldn’t take any chances.

Usui decided to conserve his magic power. Refreshed, but hungry, he padded out to the nest of the rabbits. It was extremely cleverly hidden beneath a thick bed and blanket of ferns and vegetation and stray twigs. Nothing could fool his gem sense though. Two rabbits lay there. He felt almost sorry for them, but food was food. He reached in and suffocated one after the other stealthily such that they were unable to squeal. Then, he consumed both the young and felt very much invigorated.

Now, the adults would be returning back to their empty nest soon enough. The lion lay in wait behind the tree, keeping every single muscle silent and still. He could have been a stone gargoyle for the silence he kept up.

The lion lost track of time, but it wasn’t too much later that the two grey rabbits came bounding back in dismay to the lair. They must have scented him for they stopped paces away and twitched their noses. This was his chance. Usui darted out from his hiding spot and launched himself at the smaller of the two rabbits. If he got it with one blow and maimed it severely, he wouldn’t waste too much time in chasing after the other.

Claws outstretched, he attempted to swipe them down firmly on the smaller grey rabbit, hoping sincerely that he’d be successful. Alas he was successful! He crushed the squealing critter beneath his teeth unforgivingly with a couple of bites, then aimed for the neck, then left it in the dirt. He then darted towards the other rabbit which had already had a headstart.

Usui was tired and winded from his efforts. A cub was not supposed to have that much stamina. Despite the breaks in between, hunting non-stop was taking its toll on the juvenile body of this lion. He pushed hard after the remaining rabbit that seemed to be out of his reach no matter what he did. This was when Usui decided it was time for him to use his magic power. Anyway, he had already picked up the remaining prey so disturbing the area shouldn’t be of negative consequence to him. He burst forward, then stopped near the rabbit and attempted to use pebblequake to scare the rabbit, hopefully have it tumble over or root it on the spot.

Alas, it was successful! The rabbit shuddered in its path. Immediately, Usui stopped his magic and leapt forward to grab his kill. He severed its life then trotted back to the pile to deposit it, and then he went back to his previous kill and retrieved it too. Now, he had a rather impressive pile. 4 mice, 1 cave rat, 2 deer, 2 rabbit and 1 howlite stone. he cub decided that he would find the last mice after resting for a while more. He lay his head on his paws and attempted to conserve his energy.

The rain pitter-pattered around him noisily. Usui contemplated about things as he dwelled in the atmosphere of bleak rain, mixed with a moist mouthful of meaty air. Images of Aquarian filled his mind, followed by his metal making adventures and gem hunts. Not to mention Baratheon and Kerberos, two creatures who seemed likely to become very ferocious next time in their own ways. He sighed and rolled onto his side, wondering what Origin had in store for them. It was unfortunate that there was no one to ask, no wise advisor to consult and even the lion dared not jump to his own conclusions for fear it would fill everyone with alarm.

When he felt that he had enough rest, Usui pushed himself to his paws and attempted to use gem sense to make his job easier when hunting out the remaining above-ground mouse.

The map appeared in its mind. Gems of lesser gembounds owning a gem appeared. The lizards had all shifted positions, and so had the rat (it glowed a bright shade than lizards and moved around more often).The rat was Pink. Immediately, the boy scrambled over to meet the Pink rat. He was a strong cub, but even animals exposed to a damp environment and getting dried over and over again, or worse still like his current situation, getting wet and staying damp, warranted an illness of some sort for it sent chills to his spine even now. It was almost like a chore now, but a chore for a cause, and he had to satisfy Aquarian to get answers.

The rat lay ahead, covered beneath a small sapling. Usui did not have the energy to think now. He simply cleared his mind, gathered his muscles beneath him, and pounced forward, aiming to kill the mouse just as he had succeeded with the rest previously. It died. Usui took it back to his pile and lay down, exhausted.

The lion cub’s pile now consisted of 5 mice, 1 near 2-foot long cave rat, 2 adult rabbits and 2 cave deer. All of them had been killed with a severing to the neck and without the use of his fire magic for fear of scorching the meat. This was to ensure that it remained fresh and palatable to Aquarian too, he hoped. However, it seemed unbecoming for Usui to serve the platter on a couple of leaves. He should create a giant bowl of sorts to serve this dish in. Immediately, the lion cast his exhaustive magic outwards in attempt to draw metal towards himself. Immediately, odd bits of greyish-red minerals and metals ores came honing in onto his body and clamped down like armour. He released his energy and set out on gathering the pieces together.

When he had gathered all the metal together, Usui decided to attempt a feat which he’d never done before. He attempted to concentrate the bile and heat from within his stomach and to melt the metal pieces such that they would all fuse together. The metal melted as he moved his mouth left to right. The extreme heat scorched the insides of his mouth but the boy tolerated the pain. He could tolerate things for knowledge and when it came to Origin’s fate, he would do anything he believed, if for the benefit of the gembounds. Bits of minerals and metals began to glow a liquid red-white. Stopping his magic now, the earth-user panted, utterly finding fire to be a near opposite element to yield. He then pushed the metals closer to one another, forming not the bowl he’d envisioned but a weird sort of tray, As the bits of molten metal fused, he knew that it would not be too sturdy, but could at least withstand a certain knocking about. And now, he had to wait for everything to grip together and settle and cool off before seeking Aquarian.

Eventually, everything settled. The metal fused together – bumpy and uneven, but durable enough for the cub’s first try mixing both elements of earth and fire together. He briefly wondered if he was the first one to attempt to create such things, but he guessed not, seeing the armour back in Tunnel J. Someone had to dig up the metal and shape it, others had to fuel the heat to shape certain areas. Now, the boy put his entire loot onto the tray. 5 mice, 1 cave rat, 2 deer and 2 rabbits. He left the howlite stone in the cave, wishing to retrieve it later. The, he dragged out the medium-sized tray, carefully gripping onto the sides with his teeth and back-tracking towards the swamp where Cetus lay.

Once he was there, Usui attempted to call out to Aquarian. "Aquarian, hear my plea, be filled with these sacrifices. Come to the surface for a moment.” He lapsed into silence, hoping that Aquarian would appear and grant him an audience – and hopefully, he wouldn’t take too long or the offering would spoil beneath this never-ending rain.