Kazuki shrugged when the Hammerman protested, but let Edon's cheerful nature deflect what could have been the beginnings of an argument. He doubted the butcher was as well read as he believed, or at the least had honestly missed it. Kazuki didn't have any of the training manuals his master had made him study, but he was certain the man hadn't taught him incorrectly, and all of his Quest experience so far--limited as it might be at the two star rank--had borne out that knowledge.
Moments later Tamietta returned, and Clara was the first to complement the other girl's armor. Kazuki merely nodded, glad that they would now be on their way, but inwardly he reaffirmed that carving up these Ioprey for some proper armor was the top priority. The Piscine Armor was meant for watery environments like deserted islands or deeply flooded wetland forests. It likely didn't have much in the way of heat resistance, so in an environment like the Magma Highlands it was almost the exact opposite of what one might prefer. Still, no matter how much like a bikini parts of it looked, clothing made from monster parts would always be that much more durable than simple cloth, so at least she wasn't doing what Kazuki's master had called a "naked run."
Kazuki found the Base Camp suitable enough, given that the village was probably low on supplies and probably hadn't been able to maintain it for a while. He gave the rookies a short tour, although it was obvious enough what most things were.
"--and any supplies shipped here or dropped from airships by the Guild will be placed in this blue box, whereas the red one is meant to hold anything we're delivering. On such quests a guild transport will pick it up once they've received our completion report. That's about it." he finished. He opened up the big chest with one hand, and used the other to point out the different items and how many of them there were.
"This is another reason parties are normally in groups of four--that's the most efficient number for the Guild to provide with stock supplies. Anything more is too expensive and depletes too many of their resources. As it is I have my own Potions, Steaks, and Cool Drinks, so the rest of you should divide those and the Antidotes among you. Clara, you and I will have to share a Map, so you take it for now." Kazuki stepped back and let the rest grab what they wanted.
"Speaking of Maps, feel free to take your time learning them--but my Master told me that it's important to memorize every landmark you can, until you can navigate a Hunting Ground even without a visual aid. He said it's important for higher rank quests...or if you've just got to have a rare item but have no more room in your pack."
With that said, Kazuki approached the mouth of the cave leading further out into the highlands. He pulled one Cool Drink from his pack, downed it quickly to avoid the bitter aftertaste left by the Bitter Bug it was made from, and then braced himself for the Quest ahead. With a leap over the rocky threshold, he was off.
