In For A Surprise

WZZZZ!

Ray Park opened his eyes and looked around with a cautious expression on his face, making sure that he wasn't in a dangerous situation, before calming down and letting out a long sigh.

He had been transported back to the same spot as before, and from the looks of it, no new monster had claimed this territory yet, which meant that Ray could simply walk out through the cave and enter the dense forest that was right outside of it.

"Well, I guess this is my lucky day…" Ray said as he let out a short chuckle before walking towards the entrance of the cave, his eyes still scanning the environment as he moved. Although he was a bit more calm, he still kept his guard up in case an ambush happened.

This wasn't the safe city that he was fond of. This was a different world, and it was wild, vicious and filled with monsters whom you would see in your nightmares. But unlike nightmares, they were extremely real, and Ray knew that he had to be careful and not get ahead of himself.

"Goddamn…" A pungent smell entered into Ray's nose as he reached the corner that would lead him to the entrance, and he took out his handkerchief and wrapped it around his mouth and nose before walking out.

"What a mess…" Ray squinted his eyes and held his arms across his face and spoke with a disgusted expression. In front of him, spread all over the ground, were multiple pieces of rotten flesh, which were the cause of the nauseating smell.

It seemed that the flesh of the higher troll that he had killed was not eaten by any scavenger monsters, which resulted in the meat remaining right here inside the cave.

'But it's weird..' Ray placed his hand over his handkerchief covered mouth and thought to himself. 'Why didn't any animals try to eat this meat? I'm sure that at least some of them must've smelled it..'

Ray raised his eyebrows, as the back part of his brain said; be careful. And so he was indeed careful. He took out his laser pistol and walked over the rotten flesh that was lying on the ground as he slowly moved towards the entrance of the cave.

Ray stepped out of the cave and looked around the surroundings, trying to make sure that there were no monsters near him. He realised that the cave was located deep within the jungle, which was why there were wines and shrubs blocking the entrance.

He glanced at his wrist tracking watch for a brief second, making sure that really were no monsters in the vicinity, before moving forward, entering the jungle.

Ray walked through what appeared to be a small dirt pathway that seemed to have been made naturally by different creatures walking over the same path over and over.

'Which also meant that I could encounter another monster if I took this route…' Ray knew the risk that he was taking, but he also knew that the tracking system and his senses would notify him the moment a monster began approaching him.

Another reason to take this route was that it would lead him to a spot where most monsters, or at least the monsters that take this route, would often head to. If there really was a spot where he could simply wait for monsters to appear, then he definitely had to find it.

All of a sudden…

BZZZZZ!

Ray felt a vibration on his hand, and his eyes widened for a split second, after which he instantly rushed towards the largest tree nearby.

Whoosh!

Ray appeared in front of the tree within seconds, and without wasting a single moment, he leapt up, planted his feet on the tree trunk, and leapt up once again.

Swoosh!

He stretched out his hands upwards as he jumped, grabbing on to one of the tree branches before he lost the momentum.

Ray did a short flip and landed right on the tree branch, and he took out a pair of glasses from his pocket and put it on before looking at the surroundings.

[ Warning! The intruder is 450 meters away from your location. ]

The robotic voice echoed in his ears, and he squinted his eyes in response.

[ Warning! According to the sound pulses that were sent out by the tracker, there is an 89% chance that the creature in question is a Dragontooth Lion. ]

"A Dragontooth Lion, huh…" Ray scratched his forehead and leaned back on the tree as he stared at the direction where the Dragontooth Lion was supposedly coming from.

Ray did deal with Dragontooth Lions in his previous lives before. Though, he only encountered it a few times, as different portals transport the user to different places and terrains, which might be occupied by different types of creatures.

"My victory would've been certain had I been a C-rank. However.." Ray looked frustrated and uncertain, as though he wasn't sure what he should do. There definitely wasn't a possibility that he would die from fighting a Dragontooth Lion. He could definitely guarantee that. But he wasn't confident about taking down one.

'Let's wait and see for now…' In the end, Ray decided to wait for the enemy to arrive in order for him to make his move. Perhaps a great surprise attack from above might actually help him to take down the creature without wasting much energy.

'But this is definitely weird…' Ray raised his eyebrows and stared at his wrist tracking watch as he became curious once again. 'Why is it moving so slow?' He spoke with a confused look on his face as he watched the projection of the creature that was moving in his direction.

Dragontooth Lions are generally considered to be extremely quick and incredibly flexible. If it really was a Dragontooth Lion, then it should've already shortened the distance and appeared by now. But the tracker showed the creature to be 120 meters away from him, which didn't make any sense to Ray.

'Was it not a Dragontooth Lion?' Ray looked at the projection of the creature that the sound waves had created before shaking his head. 'No, no, the body shape and size resembles it too much.'

The creature was definitely a Dragontooth Lion, so what was wrong? Why was it moving so slow?

The question that was bugging him was answered the moment the creature became visible to Ray, and he widened his eyes before nodding his head with a look of understanding.

The creature that appeared had an appearance that was similar to a normal lion, except it was twice as large and had large teeth that curved at the end like that of an elephant's, and its entire body was brown coloured, with white spots present in various places, and its tail was long and covered in spikes.

It was truly a terrifying creature, but what was even more terrifying to Ray was the condition that the Dragontooth Lion was in.

"Grrrr…. Grrr…." The Dragontooth Lion roared weakly, as blood dripped out of its mouth and onto its long teeth, making it seem as though the teeth were red in colour. Its eyes were bloody and foggy, and it had bruises and injuries all over its gigantic body.

Ray watched as the enormous monster slowly passed by the tree that he was sitting on, and a complicated expression appeared on his face.

What on earth did it fight?

Ray wanted to know. But the Dragontooth Lion wouldn't be able to tell him. He stared at the injured creature a second time, for a single second, before leaping from the tree branch and onto the Dragontooth Lion.

Woosh!

Ray stretched his hand downwards, and his hands burst into flames, which enveloped his entire arm as he descended.

'I'm still not good at controlling fire…' Ray grit his teeth as the flames spread across his arm in a violent manner. Although he was a neutral, Ray felt more comfortable using the lightning ability than any other abilities. And he found it especially harder to handle the fire element than any other one, although the Dragontooth Lion was weak to it.

BAM!

Ray landed on the back of the Dragontooth Lion with a loud noise, and his flaming hand pierced into the flesh of the creature, making it scream loudly in pain.

"GRRRRRRAAAAAR!"

The monster ran wild, whipping its body right and left as it tried to flip over whatever was on its back and hurting it, but Ray grabbed onto the fur on its back and continued stabbing its flesh with his flaming hands.

Woosh!

The Dragontooth Lion swung its tail at its back, and Ray, who saw the spike-covered tail that was fast approaching him, immediately jumped off from the back of the creature before it hit him, landing on the ground without any injuries as the spiked tail stopped right before it could injure its own back.

"I was so close…" Ray couldn't help but be disappointed, and the Dragontooth Lion turned its head to look at him, its eyes red with rage.

"Well, fuck.." Ray let out a bitter chuckle as he clutched on the laser pistol tightly. "I guess I made him angry."