Big Trouble

"I smell human in this area." A 3-star Lion spoke abruptly.

The Lion was two meters tall with a scar on its face.

Its skin was golden, and a pair of wings could be seen on its body.

The Winged Lion was thrilled when he smelled human because it had been five months since the last time he killed a human.

'The smell is coming from this direction.'

The Winged Lion walked happily as he followed the smell of humans.

At the same time, Ren was sitting on a big stone and checking his system, protecting Evelyn, who was taking a bath in the lake.

He still had not noticed the presence of the Winged Lion because the distance between them was around one hundred meters.

[Host, the system suggests you look for magical beasts with light affinity and kill them because having a Health Potion is like having two lives.]

'I also want to do that, but I need to protect Evelyn for now.'

He would have looked for magical beasts if he were alone because he also wanted to level up his system.

'A magical beast?'

He rose to his feet and looked in the direction where the Winged Lion was.

Ren ordered his system to keep using Scan Feature, so he could notice the presence of the Winged Lion because the distance between them was only forty meters now.

[Host, the aura of this magical beast is strong. It seems like this magical beast is already at 3-star.]

Ren looked at Evelyn for two seconds before finally using the Lightning Movement skill to check the magical beast.

'That magical beast should be in this place soon.'

Ren, who was standing on a tree branch, skimmed his surroundings.

At the same time, the 3-star Winged Lion came out of the bushes.

"The smell is getting strong. It seems like I'm already close to my prey." The Winged Lion sped up his steps because it could not wait to kill humans.

[Host, it's a 3-star Winged Lion. We need to leave this place immediately.]

Ren turned around and used the Lightning Movement skill to return to the lake.

"Human?" the Winged Lion noticed Ren. "Human, stop!"

"Tch!' Ren clicked his tongue in annoyance.

'This is annoying.'

He hated to admit it, but he was no match for the Winged Lion, so they could only run away from it.

Right after reaching the lake, Ren took Evelyn's clothes and approached her.

Evelyn, who was taking a bath behind a big stone, was shocked and immediately hid in water, causing him to only see her head.

"Ren, what are you doing?" he had never peeked at her before, so his actions stunned her.

'Why is he holding my clothes too? Is he going to do something to me? But he had never done this before. What's wrong with him?'

Countless questions popped up in her mind.

When he was about to answer her question, the Winged Lion's roar reverberated in the entire area.

[It's already too late, Host. The Winged Lion is already here.]

'Should I just lure the Winged Lion to leave this lake?'

It was already too late to take Evelyn out of the lake, so he suddenly had the idea of luring the Winged Lion into leaving the lake.

'Yes. I think it's a better idea.'

He had promised to protect her, so he would not put her in danger.

Ren immediately threw her clothes at her and said in a low voice. "Don't make a sound and hide in the water."

Right after she grabbed her clothes, the Winged Lion's voice rang out.

"Human, are you done playing hide and seek now? Why don't you run away from me again? I will play with you before killing you." the Winged Lion did not attack Ren immediately; instead, he walked toward Ren leisurely as if Ren's life was already in his hands.

Evelyn, who was hiding behind a big stone, finally knew everything.

Ren had no intention of peeking at her.

He wanted to protect her from the Winged Lion!

'The Lion can speak human language. It should be at least 3-star.'

She could not use magic now, so she could not tell how strong the Winged Lion was.

"Kitty, I stopped running because you were too slow. It would not be fun if you lost sight of me immediately." Ren insulted the Winged Lion on purpose because, with this, the Winged Lion's full attention would be directed at him.

"Kitty? You dare call this king kitty?!" the Winged Lion was enraged because calling him kitty was the same as insulting him.

Sure, the Lion and the cat were from the same family, but they were completely different beings.

Lions roared while cats purred.

Lions were born as kings, while cats were born as weak beasts.

Lions had strong bodies, while cats had weak bodies.

The difference between them was like heaven and earth so the Winged Lion felt insulted when Ren put him on the same level as cats.

Ren was pleased when he got the Winged Lion's full attention. "Why are you mad at me? Aren't you guys the same? After all, you are also a cat. You only have a bigger body, nothing more than that."

"Human, you have successfully made me angry." the Winged Lion could not suppress its anger so it opened its mouth and created a red sphere of flame.

The orb of flame grew in size quickly, and the temperature in the lake suddenly became hot.

Ren jumped into a tree because he did not want Evelyn to be hit by the Winged Lion's powerful attack.

When the Winged Lion shot the fireball toward him, Ren used the Lightning Movement skill to avoid it.

Like before, Ren insulted the Winged Lion again.

Every time he avoided the Winged Lion's attack, he would insult and mock it because he wanted the Winged Lion to keep paying attention to him.

"Hey, kitty. Come and get me if you can." Ren used the Lightning Movement skill to leave the lake.

"Human, I will tear your body into pieces." Right after saying that, the Winged Lion spread its wings and chased him.

After they disappeared into the distance, Evelyn came out of the water.

'Ren…' 

A sign of worry could be seen on her face.

Ren's Warrior class was at Elite rank, and his Mage class was only at 1-star, so she knew Ren was no match for the Winged Lion.

But despite that, he still protected her.

He even lured the Winged Lion to chase him as if her life was more important than his life.

"We should leave this place immediately."

"Yes. This place is no longer safe."

Two Rens came out from her right side.

"Ren?" Evelyn was startled when she saw two Rens.

"We are only clones." One of the clones responded, "The real us could not protect you because he needed to lure the Winged Lion to leave this place, so he created us to protect you until tomorrow."

Today was the last day she could not use magic, so their task was to protect her until tomorrow morning.

"Let's leave this place now." After she put on her clothes, one of the clones carried her and used the Lightning Movement skill to leave the lake.

The other clone guarded them from the front, protecting them from magical beasts and evil awakeners.

Evelyn turned her head toward the lake.

'Ren, please stay alive until tomorrow.'