C07. Ancient Rykir

BOOM!

The impact of a spell sent a rodent-like creature flying back several meters. There were a couple of the same creatures lying dead around two female figures standing by the side of a river. They were both breathing heavily as one of them lowered their hand after casting a basic spell using their ability (skill) to boost its effects.

The one who cast the Fire Ball had dark skin and pointed ears. Her light green eyes looked like peerless jewels that sparkled under the stars, and her short Raven black hair was a little messy, but it did nothing to hide her beauty. Even in the exhausted state, she still had an air of confidence around her, which, combined with her beauty, made people involuntarily avoid her gaze. She lowered her hand and started walking, completely ignoring the corpses of the dead creatures around her.

These were basic beasts (Tier 1: Monsters), and even their core was worthless to them. Her companion followed slightly behind; she had long bright blonde hair tied in a ponytail, her skin was as white as snow, and her sky blue eyes glistened like the stars. She looked like a goddess walking on Earth. Although she was covered in dirt and minor scratches, it only added to her charm.

Walking sluggishly along the riverbank, the two ladies looked visibly exhausted. For the past two days, they had been attacked by more than a dozen Tier 2-3 monsters and several hundred basic beasts. Although these were all low-level monsters, the frequency of these attacks was getting too close for comfort.

They were unable to get a moment's rest; the ladies were no better now than when they had jumped off the cliff.

"Hey Liz, how's the leg?" Rain asked with a concerned look on her face. Her body was covered in various small scratches and injuries like claw marks and bruises from being thrown on the hard rocky ground.

"It's fine; you don't have to keep worrying about it and stop trying to protect me every time. You look worse than I do," Liz responded with a serious expression but couldn't mask the bits of concern in her voice as she stared intently at her friend.

Rain was a little flustered by the stare as she hurriedly responded. "These scratches are nothing; don't worry about it. Besides, being your bodyguard, it's my job to protect you."

"You're not my bodyguard anymore."

"That doesn't matter; it's like they say, once a bodyguard, always a bodyguard."

"No one says that."

"Don't worry about it," Rain said, smiling at her friend as she shrugged and continued.

"I didn't expect there to be so many monsters patrolling the perimeters of this forest. If this keeps up, we'll run out of Mana before we get to our destination. We need another plan."

Liz nodded her head in agreement as she bit her lips; then, she turned her head around to take a look at their surroundings. "You're not suggesting we should...?"

"Yes. We need to cut through the forest. If we keep following the river, it will take us a week before we get there, and who knows what will happen," Rain said as she turned her head to face the forest.

It was the middle of the day, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. Yet, for some reason, the forest looked dark and eerie.

The trees were huge, and roots and vines were everywhere you looked. And this was just the perimeters, yet it was enough to send chills down their spines.

"Going through the forest is indeed dangerous, but if we keep doing what we're doing now, we'll die sooner or later. Our best chance is going through the forest as quickly as possible. It should only take us a couple of hours," Rain said. She then turned her head back at Liz with a serious expression. She continued, "It's a gamble, but we're already pretty close already. If we move fast, we have a high chance of avoiding the dangerously high-level monsters before we run out of stamina and mana. What do you think?" she asked sincerely.

Looking at Rain stare at her with her eyes glistening, Liz felt it was hard to refute her. It was a dangerous plan, one that required some form of luck to succeed, but somehow it made sense.

Liz was stumped. For some reason, she didn't feel like going through the forest was the best idea, but it was hard to think of a better plan. Not to mention, Rain had been the one doing most of the fighting; she had barely been able to provide backup, only landing the finishing blow when the monster could no longer move.

Even though she was a Tier 6 mage just like her friend, she lacked actual battle experience and was always a moment too slow to react. If it wasn't for Rain, she would have died several times over on this trip alone.

"Okay, fine. I'll use magic sense and lead the way. That way, we'll have a better chance at avoiding the monsters," Liz said, a little hesitant about the idea but came up with a basic plan. Before Rain could refute her plan, she continued, "I haven't used as much Mana as you. It's just my body enhancement spell, which doesn't take much Mana to maintain; it only has a time limit. I should be able to use it again in an hour or so," Liz said with a serious expression.

Looking at her friend being assertive in making decisions, Rain was a little shocked. Liz was never this assertive before; she was even considered passive and quiet. So seeing her be like this was quite a sight, and it made it hard for Rain to insist. The two girls seemed to know how to convince each other to see their point of view.

"Alright, let's rest for an hour and head through the forest like that. We should be there in about 2-3 hours at top speed," Rain said as she pointed at a large rock for them to rest their backs on.

Liz was glad her friend had agreed; she had been feeling a little useless watching her friend protect her all this time while she just stayed back not doing much. With this, she could prove herself useful and not just someone who needed to be protected.

Walking to the rock, she sat down with her arms around her knees, waiting patiently for her spell to reset.

The wind rustled through the dried leaves on the ground as something passed through at lightning speed. Rain and Liz had entered the forest about an hour ago and were moving at breakneck speed towards the direction of the Demon King's castle.

Whoosh... swoosh... whoosh...

They were moving so fast yet so gracefully as they maneuvered in-between and around the trees while avoiding the roots and vines that were practically everywhere as they headed in their general direction.

So far, they had been able to avoid three high-leveled monsters thanks to Liz's magic sense, and they were only a few miles from their destination. After running for a few more minutes, Liz spoke in a low voice.

"Hey Rain, we should cut through the left; there's a monster up ahead," she spoke without slowing down her speed as she made a quick cut from her original trajectory.

Zing... BOOM!

They hadn't made many movements to get off the path before a projectile flew past them at great speed and exploded.

"What was that?" Liz said a little flustered after coming to an abrupt halt.

"Liz, get behind me!" Rain exclaimed as she rushed forward to protect her friend, but her reaction was a moment too slow.

Zing... BOOM!

Another projectile exploded right in front of Liz as the shockwave sent her flying straight at the large tree behind her.

Bang!

She slammed into the tree trunk, creating a large dent in the tree. "Gasp!" she was unable to react in time and could only gasp in pain when she hit the tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Zing...

"Greater Magic, Water Fortress!" Rain shouted the moment she heard the sound of the projectile slicing through the air. She had used Greater Magic to improve the effectiveness of a Tier 5 spell.

BOOM!

The explosion happened right after the barrier was formed, protecting Liz from instant death. "Cough, cough, cough..." Rain broke into a fit of coughing after using the spell; it was obvious she was almost at her limit.

Covering her mouth with her left hand, she tried her best to stay cautious and alert. She tried looking around for the enemy, but it was of no use; she could not find it no matter how hard she looked.

With her Mana nearing its limit, she would be suicidal if she tried to use magic sense as she was not proficient at it. With no way to locate the enemy and being low on Mana, she pulled out the two daggers that had been well-hidden behind her waist.

The only good news right now was the fact that whatever attacked them had not launched another attack. There were different possibilities, but without knowing what the attacker was, it was hard to make a guess.

Placing the blades in front of her face, she took a low stance; even though she was low on Mana, she had enough stamina to engage in an intense fight.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

The forest was oddly quiet, but her heart was beating steadily; she could feel her surroundings clearly as she activated the only skill she has learned that was of any help in this situation.

"Blessings of the Wind."

It wasn't as impressive as magic sense, so most people won't learn it, but it uses way less Mana to activate and maintain—less than one-tenth, since magic sense was also more dynamic, the skill was considered useless. But it was a different story for elves who had better senses than humans and most demons. She could feel the wind's movement within 50 meters around her; she could feel every living creature in the area; even the insects did not escape her grasp.

Zoom...

"There!" The instant she felt the monster's movement, she immediately shot out from where she was. The ground she was standing on could not withstand the force she exerted; in an instant, she appeared before one of the trees to her right about 10 meters away.

Using both blades, she slashed at the tree; her movements were fluid and almost flawless. The blades created a streak of energy that split the giant tree in an X shape.

Zoom...

Whatever was on the tree had fled before she had even arrived there. It appeared to have some kind of camouflage ability and was very fast.

Zing...

Another projectile shot out from a different location straight at Rain. Being already prepared for this outcome, she quickly rotated her left foot, turning to face the attack, and in one motion, she dashed straight at the projectile.

Looking at the attack now, she could see exactly what it was. It was some kind of blade-like horn, a horn engulfed in black flames. Looking at the horn heading straight for her, Rein didn't show any signs of panic or hesitation. Rotating her wrist, she brought the daggers in front of her face, then swung them at the horn.

She had no intentions of taking the attacks head-on; she swung her blades from the same direction in a bid to redirect their trajectory.

Clang!

Rain used her momentum and speed to change the direction of the horn; she already knew what kind of monster this was, and it wasn't a good match for her right now.

After successfully redirecting the attack, she dashed straight at the monster again, only this time she swung only one blade at the beast.

As the blade approached the monster, it immediately relocated and prepared its next attack.

Stab!

A blade pierced into the shoulders of the beast, revealing its true appearance. Rein had thrown the dagger in her left hand the moment she had attacked from the right, leaving the monster only one route to escape.

After forcefully exposing the monster with her last attack, she could now see its true form perched up in the tree like a spider. It was a panther-like creature with two blade-like horns growing on top of its head, vertically.

The creature had reddish-grey scales that seemed to be as hard as steel, and its eyes had a reddish hue to them as it glared down at the person who wounded it. The beast's aura was terrifying; even as a Tier 6 mage herself, she still felt stifled in its presence. She had guessed what it was already, but to stare at it directly was more than she bargained for. This was a monster that was on the verge of being divine; its scales were marked with strange words that looked indecipherable. Staring at them too long might cause madness or even death.

Tier 6 Magic Beast - Ancient Rykir.