Mischievous Stalker.

Ethan immediately tensed up. It was to be expected as an unknown thing or creature had just flashed past him. The fear of the unknown could be very dangerous and he was treading literally in the unknown. Even with this, he didn't know how severe his situation was as the creature didn't appear again but that also raised alarm bells in his head. It was too quite. He was accustomed to meeting at a least two beast a 100 meters more or less from him but he had been walking for about 15 minutes now with his vigilance pushed to the limit all to no avail. It was like he was walking in a cemetery. Nothing was there apart from the tall tress, dirt, fallen leaves, himself and the strange call.

Still he didn't fret but moved on with caution. He had the feeling that, that strange calling was related to his strength and path. Fate and destiny worked in many ways and they were always unexpected. That was what he was feeling now. Not only that, he also had a feeling that the cause of his strange feeling was at the center of the hive, meaning he will be facing off against groups of gargoyles if he's not careful. The worst part, he had just three days to accomplish this feat and he hadn't even crossed the first island when there were like 10 or so more islands, in a straight path to reach the middle islands, each filled with unknown dangers of their own. Just the thought of that made him vibrate in fear. He was now beginning to feel the real danger of the Beast Plane and the craziness of the sadistic system. 

With his perception all up, he followed the feeling he was feeling but he still failed to notice his obsessed stalker who had nothing else to do than follow him. Ethan occasionally felt chills down his spine like someone was breathing down his neck but alas, there was no one there or he couldn't even see his stalker. As a Barix Gargoyle, he innately had a camouflage ability, not to mention Ethan was walking in its domain, on its turf. It was ultimately the king there and it will extremely difficult to spot even if it was without the camouflage ability.

...

Ethan walked for an hour and half and finally reached an opening, probably the exit to the island. It was strangely paved with a few gargoyle statues crudely made guarding it. The forest had been strangely peaceful but he he instantly forgot about it when he saw the exit. He would rather be in a place with danger all around than be in a peaceful environment considering the place was the Beast Plane. How can the Beast Plane be peaceful?! It wasn't possible plus he had this nudging feeling that this was just the calm before the storm before something fucks him up. As if waiting for Ethan to think that, a large rock flew towards Ethan with an insane speed. Before Ethan could understand what was going on, it exploded into white smoke, blinding him in the process. His stalker had finally come out to welcome him or was it a farewell, but it sure wasn't pleasant.

Ethan closed his eyes to keep the sand from his eyes as he stumbled around. His perception was on all time high but he still couldn't pinpoint his assaulter. He quickly surrounded himself in blue energy and pushed it around himself to keep the smoke from him. It helped a bit to allow him to open his eyes but it wasn't enough as the smoke was too thick for his affinity to push away. He was still lacking in his control so it was understandable. He did a 360 degree turn to determine even a path ahead but it was all for naught. He could also feel light tremors where he was standing as if an earthquake was heading towards him and he wasn't far from the truth as a representation of the that earthquake was actually heading towards him. 

As the tremors got closer, Ethan heard a disturbing sound, something akin to a laugh, probably his assaulter. "Ke ke ke! Graah grah bbjhj! Ke ke ke!" Whatever the fuck that meant but he knew he was in grave shit. No beast he faced had been this powerful to explode earth into thick smoke or create a an earth golem in less than 5 seconds. He managed to figure it out as it was somewhat obvious. That's when it clicked in. Alchemy! The freaking beast had the Alchemy affinity so it was probably a Barix Gargoyle but what he couldn't get was what a Barix Gargoyle would be doing at the outskirts of their settlement. They most likely had a big village. Intelligent beasts like the gargoyle could do that. If only he knew that even the gargoyle elders were searching for his stalker. He was that stubborn plus no one would ever associate it with the outer islands so no one would come there to look for it. 

Ethan shook his head to get those thoughts out of his head and got into a battle stance. The smoke was dissipating and would be finally seeing his assaulter or most likely, his assaulter's lackey. He gripped his hammer firmly as he waited. The system had locked than his aura skills, leaving him with his shitty hammer arts, flaw-stricken martial arts and a slightly good Telekinesis control.

The smoke quickly thinned just in time for Ethan to dodge a powerful blow by hair's breath. He dodged in time otherwise his head would've blown up. He shivered just with that thought. He quickly got up from where he had rolled off to and stared at his opponent in wariness. He hadn't seen such a monstrosity before. It was completely made out of grey rocks and very tall, about 8 feet in height. Not only that, its skin had a slight metallic sheen to it while its small eyes glowed with a silver light. It was undoubtedly a Silver Rank beast! The worst part, it was created by his assaulter who would probably be at Peak Silver or even Gold Rank. Ethan smiled wryly at his shitty luck. He hadn't reached even the inner parts of Babel's Hive and he was already facing a Gold Rank beast, probably. His assaulter also clearly didn't deem worthy enough to see him, instead it sent him a Silver Rank Earth Golem to play with not mention it would be able to control its creation. He was basically going to fight two powerful beasts and with his level and damned abilities, he wondered if he could even do it. He could manage against the Earth Golem while it was being controlled or even kill it without the control but if the main guy joined the battle... he sucked in a cold breath as he thought.

The golem wasn't going to wait for him to stabilize himself as it attacked him with a hard punch. Realizing it will be hard to dodge, Ethan swiftly held the underside of the hammer's head and the end of the handle and blocked the punch with the middle of the hammer. It blocked the attack alright but Ethan was still hurled 5 meters away while colliding with a tree, a stone tree. His nightmare had come true. He was now fighting two powerful beasts; one at Silver Rank and the probably at the Gold Rank. The golem was the damage dealer while his opponent acted as support, that with the Alchemy affinity. The Alchemy affinity was that dangerous as it depended on the bloodline affinity and with the gargoyle bloodline affinity being related to Earth, he was in for a beating. Why? The gargoyle could fucking use all affinities related to Earth and its variants and it could change them at will. Earth, rocks, stone, sand, dust, metal, lava, name it. The beast was that powerful. Even if it was a level below Ethan, it would've still given him crap not to mention it was unfortunately at the Gold Rank. It had already used sand, rocks and stone and all that flawlessly. How was he supposed to fight?! Ethan was breaking down inside and system wasn't making it any better for him with the quest it had issued him.

...

Battle Of Wits

Defeat the Earth Golem

Reward: Escape from the Gargoyle.

Time Limit: None

Penalty: Death (You will die either ways if you don't find a way to kill it)

...

"Crap!"