Ausafàr

Felix got to train for around an hour before Drakon popped out from under the rock, groaning, "Damn it's hot out here… oh, Odin, here you are."

The night before, Drakon, or Enzo, and Felix had hanged a little longer at the Adventurer's Guild, and exchanged names. However, they had agreed to address each other by their username while in the game.

Unbothered by the sun's heat thanks to his Basic Fire Resistance, Felix dropped down from the rock, asking, "Ready to go?"

Drakon nodded, groaning, "The faster we get to the lake, the less I will have to stand under that heat."

Smiling teasingly, Felix replied, "At least it isn't a sandy desert. Imagine walking on sand, every step making you feel like you weigh twice as much, grains of sand slipping through the cracks of your boots…"

"For fuck's sake, stop! I'm getting uncomfortable just imagining it!"

His eyes turning dangerous, Drakon turned around, stabbing his finger into Felix's breastplate as he threatened, "I swear to God, if you somehow get us in that kind of desert, I will kill you and take that bounty!"

Facing the threat, Felix merely laughed out, walking past the huge Guardian, who ended up groaning and following.

The two walked away from the city, heading South for Lake Aurus.

The lake wasn't very far from the city, about a two hours walk from the city, but the two took double that time to get there, because of the other two Quests they had taken.

They weren't hard, but they had to collect items, which took time. But since they were passing by anyway, it was mostly free XP and money.

The two did not encounter any enemy on the way either, meaning their decision of disconnecting outside the city might have been the right one. Or, well, no one had come for them yet, but Felix like to think he had made a good decision.

Anyway, by the time the two reached Lake Aurus, the sun was still high in the sky. Epoch worked differently from Earth in many ways, but they still had the same four seasons. They did not exactly work the same, but essentially, it was the end of Spring and would soon be Summer in this region of the world, so the sun stayed up late.

Now that they had left the desert and reached a lake, the air had become much more bearable for Drakon.

As for the lake itself, it was quite the sight.

The two had arrived from a clearing, but the lake was slightly below their level, so only when they reached the end of the clearing did they get to take in the lake.

It wasn't an absolutely massive body of water, like a Great Lake, but one on the smaller side, as Felix could see the entirety of the lake.

Surrounding most of it was a pine forest, their vivid green pines being reflected in the clear blue water. Even from his distance, looking at the shores Felix could see the rocks and pebbles underwater, because of how clear the water was.

"Goddammit, the sun's killing my eyes!"

Felix was brought out of his admiration of nature as Drakon suddenly complained. Looking at his companion with a frown, Felix said, "Why did you go for such a large armor if you always feel hot? Besides, how have you still not developed even a Lesser Fire Resistance?"

Drakon, who was shielding his face with a hand, replied, "It's not the heat, it's the sun reflecting on the water! How can you even look at it and not go blind?"

Turning his eyes back to the lake, Felix did notice the sunlight getting reflected on the water, but it wasn't blinding, it only added to the beauty of the scene, bringing harmony to…

"Urgh! I have sensitive eyes!"

Sighing, Felix pointed out, "I'm the one with blue eyes. Brown eyes aren't supposed to be this sensitive. Stop being a crybaby."

Still shielding his eyes, Drakon was forced to look at the ground as he exclaimed, "Por el amor de Dios! What good are stats if they can't even resolve this!"

Rolling his eyes, Felix said, "You will hardly defend yourself against anything if you can't look straight… Are you sure we shouldn't leave our stuff somewhere around here, in case we die? I don't want to lose all my stuff."

Felix was still wearing the same equipment as before, and while it wasn't exactly the best for his level now, he still had a few things he didn't want to part with.

His spear, Skera, as it was the first Fine Quality equipment he had made, so it held sentimental value, while being quite a good piece of equipment. There was also his Bag of Holding, a rare spatial equipment.

Although it might seem common as most of the people Felix met had one, the people he met weren't normal people. Be it Vaena, Earl Eric, or Zara, they all were of some importance.

Speaking of acquaintances, Felix still hadn't come back to Red Dawn Town, but that wasn't a problem. Having known about the level limit, when he left the town he had told his friends there that it might be farewell.

Felix did intend on returning there though, if only because there were still things he had to do there.

Drakon, hearing Felix's doubts, replied, "What's the point of going in if we have nothing to lose?"

Starting to walk down towards the lake, Felix grumbled, "I'm so dumb for even agreeing."

But despite saying that, Drakon could hear the hidden excitement within Felix's voice, making him grin. Before he accidentally moved his hand and once again got blinded.

Ignoring Drakon's shenanigans, Felix quickly walked down towards the lake, showing no hesitation. While he was wary of the instant death effect, hesitating wouldn't help him in any way.

With every step, Felix was forced to wonder whether the next would be the last, yet by the time he arrived right before the water, Felix did not feel anything.

Looking at the water less than a meter from him, Felix tilted his head, before looking at Drakon.

The two stared at each other, before Drakon snorted, "Talk of a fucking disappointment."

Shaking his head, Felix asked, "You sure we are in the right place?"

Drakon scratched his head, doubting himself, "We should be. That's strange. Maybe we happened to find the one access to the lake that didn't result in instant death?"

Giving a snide eye to Drakon, Felix sneered, "Really? The most direct access from Fìrma, and no one would have taken it?"

Ignoring Felix's tone, Drakon reasoned, "Maybe they didn't all die directly. For all we know, the NPCs who came here did not die instantly, but since they couldn't get revived, we didn't get to know about it. Maybe that the players who followed avoided the obvious path, thinking it was what had killed the NPCs."

"Yes. Or this is not the right lake."

Staying silent for a moment, Drakon crouched to touch the water, and seeing nothing happen, he said, "Well, we might as…"

Drakon suddenly stopped as his hands moved faster than a normal human could follow, and he drew out his giant sword and smacked it into the water in front of him, in one fluid motion.

The strike looked almost instantaneous as the water struck was sent flying, the rocks below getting crushed from the force of the blow.

But more importantly, green blood splashed around too, as a horribly mangled creature appeared under the sword.

Felix could hardly distinguish a semi humanoid figure, maybe female, although it looked a little too small. It had blue skin, making it hard to see in the water, but Felix was sure that there was something else.

He had been keeping an eye on his surroundings, but he had only seen this one when it was smashed to death. That wasn't a simple natural camouflage.

Wiping the green blood off his sword, Drakon said, "Level 48 Elite Ausafàr. Any idea what that is?"

Shrugging, Felix replied, "Never heard of it. Think this is our culprit?"

Moving the mangled body around with his armored foot, Drakon replied, "It definitely has the invisible part, but surely a Level 48 Elite can't have one-shot all those players, right?"

Examining the creature himself, Felix said, "You one-shot an Elite monster 15 levels higher than you. Maybe it is a glass cannon? Every stat in attack and stealth, and nothing in defense?"

Drakon nodded, "That makes sense. If that's the case, they are quite the dangerous enemies."

Looking at him, Felix asked, "By the way, how did you see it? I didn't notice it until you killed it."

Pointing at the water, Drakon explained, "It is because I had my hand in the water. I didn't see it either, I merely felt the movement of the water. It was very faint though, and I only felt it because I am in the Control Realm."

Realization dawning on him, Felix uttered, "If that is our killer, and some of the players got killed out of the water, then it might be able to be just as stealthy out of the water, where we wouldn't be able to sense it."

Nodding, Drakon replied, "All the players who came before were average players, but if its stealth is as good on land as in water, then it would explain why everyone died instantly without seeing it coming. There are probably multiple of them too, and capable of communication, since some tried to come in groups and all died at the same time."

Felix looked at the corpse for a moment, before taking one of his gloves off and grabbing the body. Next to him, Drakon snorted, "You're not afraid its skin is poisonous?"

Ignoring him, Felix closed his eyes and channeled his Mana through his hand, sending it through his skin into the body of the creature.

While Mana was an energy inherent to every living being within Epoch, it was so deeply tied to one's essence that if it were to enter another body, it would become a destructive force.

So as Felix sent some of his Mana within the Ausafàr's body, the remnants of its own Mana moved on its own to defend against Felix.

In the outside world, this phenomenon translated into the Ausafàr's corpse flickering between being visible and being invisible, not in a smooth transition though as patches of its skin turned invisible while the rest remained visible, making it look psychedelic.

Supplying some more of his Mana, Felix examined the way the creature's Mana was reacting, getting a feel on it. This only lasted for a few seconds, before the corpse ran out of Mana, returning to normal as Felix opened his eyes, barely catching the shifting skin as he put his glove back on.

Drakon, on the side, asked, "Did you get anything out of that?"

Smiling at the question, Felix nodded towards the water, where a Runic Circle appeared above the water.

'First Circle: Shockwave'

The water suddenly rippled strongly as a wave of force smashed into the water. And as it did, something flickered into view. It appeared for barely an instant, but it was enough for the two to spot it.

Drakon was already ankle-deep into the water, his sword smashing down, when suddenly a hurried voice pleaded, "Please, don't!"

Drakon's sword stopped less than a centimeter from the creature's invisible face, the wind created from the strength behind the sword creating some more ripples.

Eyeing the creature with interest, Felix ordered, "Show yourself."